Everyday of Our Lives
by MeantToBe16
Summary: Sequel to This is True, This is Fate. They're now officially a family... But can they go through life's ups and downs together? Will they be ready to face the surprises life has in store for them? Troyella, Chaylor, Zekepay, Jelsi, Ryan/OC
1. Trailer

_**They're now officially a family…**_

_Scene shows Troy talking to Andrea and faith in the car_

"Andrea and Faith, you're going to have to share a room," Troy informed the two teenage girls. Faith and Andrea looked at each other and shrugged.

"I don't mind," Faith said, smiling. Andrea nodded.

"Me too," she told her father. Troy smiled at how close those two have grown.

_Scene shows Troy and Brad playing basketball one on one_

"You've got to fake right and break left," Troy advised his step- son. Brad smirked.

"You mean like this?" he asked as he did what he was told. Troy smiled at him.

"I've taught you well," he said. Brad grinned.

"Thanks, Dad," he said. Troy froze and so did Brad.

"Did you just call me Dad?" Troy asked, his voice shaking.

_Scene shows Ryan and Alana having dinner with Alan and Brandon_

"Well, how was school?" Alana Ritchie- Evans asked as she passed Brandon the salad. Alan and Brandon smiled at each other.

"The whole school knows we're brothers," Brandon said, grinning and high- fived his new brother.

_**But in every family, there's bound to be problems…**_

_Scene shows Mikayla and Savannah fighting_

"MIKAYLA! HOW COULD YOU?" Savannah screamed as she threw a cup at her. Mikayla ducked hid behind the couch as Savannah began throwing other things at her.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Sharpay yelled as she and Zeke stormed into the house. She held her daughter's hands so that Savannah would stop throwing things around. Savannah hugged her mother and sobbed. Mikayla got out from her hiding spot and stood behind her father. She looked at Sharpay.

"She thinks I stole her lip gloss," Mikayla stated.

_Scene shows Ryan and Alana in the living room_

"We have the whole house to ourselves, you know," Ryan said as he smiled seductively at his wife. Alana giggled and started kissing him. Things started to heat up when the phone rang. Ryan groaned and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi. May I speak to Ryan Evans, please?"

"Speaking."

"Ah, Mr. Evans! My name is Melissa Hamilton from Social Services. I'm here to inform you that that your daughter would be arriving next Tuesday."

"Yes, that'll be- WHAT?" Ryan yelped. Alana looked at him worriedly.

"Your daughter, Mr. Evans. Melinda Elizabeth Gordon Evans," the person on the phone said. Ryan dropped the phone in shock.

_Scene shows Troy and Gabriella fighting_

"She was flirting with you!" Gabriella said as she took out her earrings. Troy rolled his eyes.

"She was not flirting with me, Gabriella," he said tiredly. Gabriella turned around and looked at him, hands on her hips.

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was not?"

"Was too!"

"Aha!" Gabriella cried.

_Scene shows Chad and Taylor on one couch of the room and Clay and Tyler on the other_

"It's his fault!" Clay said as he pointed at his brother.

"My fault? You're the one with a big ego!" Tyler said. The two soon started bickering.

"ENOUGH!" Chad and Taylor yelled at the same time.

_Scene shows Jason, Kelsi and McKenzie eating dinner_

"Daddy, when can I start dating?" McKenzie asked casually as she ate her salad. Jason spit out his drink and choked a little. He looked at his daughter. Kelsi was trying her best to suppress her smile.

"W-What?" Jason stammered.

_**But they'll always get through it…**_

_Scene shows Mikayla and Savannah hugging each other, smiling_

_Scene shows Ryan, Alana, Brandon and Alan sitting in the living room_

"Whatever it is, we're going to get through this together, as a family. I admit that I'm not too thrilled either. But when I said my wedding vows, I meant every single word of it," she said as she smiled at her husband encouragingly. Ryan smiled back at her softly while Brandon and Alan just shrugged.

_Scene shows Clay and Tyler playing basketball and Tyler winning_

"Guess my ego got in the way of me winning," Clay joked. Tyler laughed.

Scene shows Jason comforting McKenzie

_**Right?**_

_Scene shows Sharpay and Zeke in their bedroom and Mikayla and Savannah are outside, listening intently_

"Maybe this isn't working, Zeke. Maybe we weren't meant to be," Sharpay said. Zeke looked at her.

"W-What?"

"We were separated once and now when we're finally together, everything's falling apart."

"No," Mikayla breathed from outside and as tears welled up in Savannah's eyes.

_Scene shows Jason and McKenzie in the backyard_

"I HATE YOU!" she screamed and ran into the house, crying. Jason felt his heart breaking at her words.

_**Stories of love… **_

_Scene shows Faith and Brandon in the janitor closet_

"Listen well and listen good, Brandon Evans. Just because you're on the basketball team, it doesn't give you the right to bully other people. People have feelings and there's a way to treat them. The way you're treating the other students in this school so far is not the way. So, if I ever see you bullying any one again, you are going to go through hell for the rest of your miserable life. Understand?" she said angrily, furious at the fact that the boy she had fallen in love with at the summer camp was a bully. Brandon just nodded. Faith smiled and left the closet.

Brandon was still dumbfounded. No one had ever dared talk to him like that apart from his family members. No one but Faith. It was her that stood up to him at the summer camp and now, here at East High. She was not fake like the other cheerleaders Brandon had dated but she had a heart and was natural. At that moment, Brandon Evans was sure that Faith Montez- Bolton was his soul mate.

_Scene shows Andrea crying and Clay comforts her_

"Thanks, Clay. For everything. You're my best friend," Andrea said through her tears as she hugged him.

I want to be more than your best friend, he thought to himself as he hugged her tighter.

_Scene shows Kelsi comforting Jason about his problem with McKenzie_

_Scene shows Chad and Taylor looking through photo albums together_

_Scene shows Troy and Gabriella having dinner_

"Where are the kids?" Troy asked as he sat down.

"With Chaylor and Zekepay," Gabriella answered stonily. After a few minutes of silence, Troy had had enough. And apparently, so had Gabriella.

"I'm sorry," they both said together and smiled, knowing everything was forgiven and forgotten.

_Scene shows McKenzie and Brad playing in the rain_

_**The importance of family…**_

_Scene shows Melinda getting bullied_

"Hey, there freak. What are you doing in school so late?" Alicia Hanson asked as her cheerleader friends pinned Melinda against the wall. Melinda winced.

"W-What d-do you want?" Melinda asked, stuttering. She was slapped on the cheek by Alicia right after she asked that question.

"Now, let's cut the chase and get straight to the point, shall we? You leave Tyler Danforth alone, you got it? He's mine," Alicia threatened. Melinda wanted so much to roll her eyes.

"We're just friends," she said. Alicia rolled her eyes and was about to say something when she was interrupted.

"Hey. Leave my sister alone," Brandon said as he approached the cheerleaders. Alicia shrugged as her brother appeared out of nowhere.

"What do you want, Evans?" Ted Hanson asked menacingly. Brandon narrowed his eyes at him.

"I want your sister to leave my sister alone," he said.

"Correction. _We_ want your sister to leave _our_ sister alone," Alan said as he stepped out of the science lab.

_Scene shows the whole gang at the beach_

_Scene shows Troy, Gabriella, Andrea, Faith, Paris and Brad as a perfect family_

_Scene shows the Danforths and Baylors in a food fight_

"Not again!" Sharpay, Chad and Clay whined, worried for their hair.

_**Friendship…**_

_Scene shows Faith and Mikayla hugging each other_

"Thanks, Kayl. You're the best!" Faith said, hugging Mikayla.

"Tell me something I don't know," Mikayla joked.

_Scene shows the former Wildcats playing basketball against each other_

_Scene shows Kelsi, Gabriella and Taylor comforting Alana and Sharpay_

_Scene shows Faith, Andrea, Savannah and Mikayla on a shopping spree_

_Scene shows Paris and McKenzie befriending Melinda_

_**And of course, not without… DRAMA!**_

_Scene shows Brandon and Alan at the library_

"I promised Mom and Ryan that we would meet them at the diner at 4 o' clock sharp, Brandon. And if we're not there by four, that would mean that I broke a promise to my parents. I have never lied to them before and I don't intend on starting now," Alan said as though he were acting out a scene from a movie.

"Okay, Mr. Teen Choice Awards Best Actor. I'll be done in five minutes," Brandon said as he rolled his eyes at his brother's theatrical performance. His father would have been proud of Alan.

_Scene shows Tyler screaming at Chad_

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" he screamed at his father. Chad paled as he stormed up the stairs and into the room. Chad, Taylor and Clay were quiet for a while before Clay broke the silence.

"That went well," he said sarcastically only to be glared at. Boy, if looks could kill, he would have dropped dead.

_Scene shows Sharpay throwing things around the house_

Mikayla and Savannah went behind the couch where they found Zeke, Troy and Gabriella hiding too. The teenagers raised their eyebrows at the adults as the three of them smiled sheepishly.

"The Ice Queen is back," Troy said.

"I HEARD THAT, TROY BOLTON!" Sharpay screamed as threw a basketball at them.

"Zeke! Control your woman!" Troy bellowed.

_**Starring:**_

_Zac Efron as Troy Bolton_

_Vanessa Anne Hudgens as Gabriella Montez_

_Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth_

_Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie_

_Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans_

_Chris Warren Jr. as Zeke Baylor_

_Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans_

_Sara Paxton as Alana Ritchie_

_Oleysa Rulin as Kelsi Cross_

_Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross_

**Everyday of Our Lives**

**Coming soon in a monitor near you...**


	2. Leaving, Missing and Shouting

"Well, that was the last of it," 41-year-old Zeke Baylor said as he looked around the house for the last time. The same house that held so many memories. The same house in which he had lived in after divorcing Cassandra Miller. The same house his daughter grew up in. The same house that held so many precious memories. Beside him, 40 soon to be 41-year-old, Gabriella Montez- Bolton sniffled.

"I'm going to miss it here. A lot," she said softly, tears in her eyes. Zeke smiled sadly and hugged the woman he considered to be his little sister.

"It feels weird. It's so empty and that has never happened before. I'm so used to this house being in a mess," Jason Cross whispered as he put his arm around his wife to comfort her and maybe even himself. Kelsi nodded and looked at the rest.

"Well, I guess the past is the past. We have a future to look forward to," she smiled, trying to be the optimistic one. Gabriella, Zeke and Jason just nodded. Together, the four of them walked out of the house, sad that they're leaving their life in New York behind but at the same time happy that they were going to start afresh with their other friends and family.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Faith Montez never had many friends. She was always so outgoing and usually stood out of the crowd. That was probably one of the many reasons that she did not have many friends. You see, in New York, they liked sticking to the rules. The jocks and cheerleaders in one group, the nerds in another and so on and so forth. Faith was different. She was smart so she could be considered a nerd but she was beautiful. Nerds are supposed to be ugly, according to the stupid rule book. She used to be a cheerleader but she quit after realizing she had to give up being friends with Mikayla Baylor just to be in the squad. Stupid status quo.

Mikayla Baylor was always thankful that she had an amazing best friend. When she and Faith started high school, she was scared of drifting apart from her best friend. Alas, she need not have worried. Faith stuck by her no matter what. Mikayla had been an outsider because some cheerleader made up a rumor that she was a slut and would sleep with every guy on campus. Faith had been so furious that she had slapped that cheerleader, causing the cheerleader to attack her back. The fight ended when Faith was told to choose between Mikayla and the cheerleaders. For that split second, Mikayla was afraid of losing her best friend. She would never forget what Faith did that day. Faith looked at the cheerleader straight in the eye and told her that she would rather eat worms than join a group of girls who did not value friendship. With that, Faith had grabbed Mikayla's hand and stormed out of the gym, leaving the cheerleaders shocked and stunned.

So, needless to say, both girls were very happy that they were leaving New York.

Paris Gomez- Bolton, however, had a harder time saying goodbye to New York mainly because of one person, David Camden. Her first guy friend, her first crush, and she really wanted him to be her first kiss. She had promised that she would e-mail him and he promised her he would e-mail her but deep down, Paris knew they were going to lose touch.

"You don't know that for sure," Faith had tried comforting Paris when she had confronted her. It was easy for Faith to say. The guy she was practically in love with was going to be with her in Albuquerque. Feeling down, she had been crying all night until McKenzie had comforted her.

"If you guys are meant to be, you guys will be together. Look at Mom and Troy. They were meant to be, weren't they? Or you never know but you might get someone better in the future. Of course, that person's gonna have to pass Brad's test," her best friend had said.

McKenzie was ready for a new life. She was tired of New York. She never had many friends. Her only friends were Brad and Paris and that was mainly because she had known them since they were all in diapers. She had been an outcast in school, having always been the shy and quiet one. She was like her mother in many ways when Kelsi was in high school. They both had a passion for music and wrote beautiful songs. However, McKenzie had a little of her father in her too. She liked making movies in her past time, just like Jason. She liked doing those things as hobbies rather than something she would be paid for.

Brad was not as affected as his twin sister or as unaffected as his older sister. Sure, he was going to leave behind some great friends that he had made in school but hey, he still had McKenzie. His friends had promised that they would keep in touch so there. He was not sure if the promises were going to be kept. All he knew was that no matter what, he had a new life to look forward to. A life with a father and new sister.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Excited would be an understatement for what Andrea Bolton was feeling right then. She was all smiles as she waited for her new family to arrive in the living room. Her new, complete family. She now had a mother, a father, 2 sisters and a brother. And it was all thanks to her and Faith that these 6 people, including herself, were together as one family. Of course, they had had help.

Last year, on her sixteenth birthday, Andrea received her last and final letter from her mother. You see, Andrea had been receiving letters from her mother, Amanda, for the past ten years, By that I mean that Amanda had given sixteen letters to Troy and every year, Troy would give it to Andrea. Anyway, the last letter had told Andrea to get her father and Gabriella Montez together. And that was exactly what she did with the help of Faith, Brad, Paris and well, basically everyone.

Andrea looked around her living room. Her father, Troy Bolton, had been pacing back and forth for the last twenty minutes. Andrea chuckled at how nervous her father was. Sharpay Evans was watching home videos of the kids growing up with her daughter and Andrea's best friend, Savannah Evans.

"Troy, if you don't stop pacing, you're going to burn a hole in the carpet," Sharpay said.

"I'm just excited," Troy defended himself. Sharpay smiled softly.

"So, you're going to pace back and forth for the next five hours?" she asked. Troy just shrugged and continued pacing.

Outside on the basketball court, Chad Danforth, Ryan Evans, Alan Ritchie- Evans, Brandon Evans, Clay Danforth and Tyler Danforth were playing basketball two on two with Alana Ritchie- Evans and Taylor McKessie- Danforth as the referees. The Evans were on one team while the Danforths were on the other.

As they were playing, Alana's phone rang and she answered it, leaving poor Taylor to referee the game she so badly did not want to watch because she knew how it was going to end. With another game.

"Hello? Hey! Mhmm… Okay… Okay… Sure… Great!" Alana said as she hung up. Taylor looked at her incredulously. Alana nodded at her and she finally got it.

"I'm going to go to the store for a while. You wanna come, Tay?" Alana asked. Taylor nodded immediately, wanting to get out of being the referee of the basketball game the guys had been playing since one in the afternoon. It was now four in the evening.

"But who's going to referee?" Chad whined. Taylor rolled her eyes. After all these years, basketball was still always on Chad's mind.

"Get Troy. If he doesn't stop pacing, he's gonna burn a hole in the carpet," Taylor said as she and Lana went to their cars.

"Why do you guys need two cars?" Chad asked suspiciously.

"Because we're going to buy lots of food," Taylor answered.

"And one car is not enough because?" Ryan asked.

"Puh- lease. Chad's here. I don't even know if two cars are enough." With that, the two women were off.

"Whoa, I never expected you guys to stop playing so soon," Sharpay said as the guys stepped into the house. Chad shrugged as he sat beside Savannah and took her chips.

"Uncle Chad!" she whined and wrinkled her nose. She put her hands on her hips and pointed to the bathrooms.

"You guys better start fighting for the bathroom now or else," she threatened, looking at them with an evil look on her face. Brandon looked at his cousin defiantly.

"Or else what?" he asked, challengingly. Savannah narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well, let's just say you're gonna have pink hair all over your head tomorrow instead of your blonde hair," she said, smirking slightly. All the smelly guys' eyes widened as they each made a mad dash towards the bathroom. Troy chuckled and turned to the older blonde female in the room.

"Sharpay, I swear, Savannah is too much like you," he said.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Wow, Taylor and Alana sure are taking a long time," Chad said as he wiped his wild hair. Ryan nodded, frowning slightly.

"You don't think something happened to them, do you?" he asked worriedly. Chad looked at him before jumping off the couch and took the cordless phone to dial Taylor's number. After three rings, Taylor answered.

"Hello?" she answered. Chad let go of the breath he did not know he was holding.

"Taylor, where are you? It's been three hours!" Chad asked.

"We're at the salon. Tell Sharpay we didn't bring her because she just went yesterday," Taylor said. Chad gave a thumbs up to Ryan to signal that they were fine. Ryan let out a sigh of relief.

"Taylor, they'll be coming in two hours and the house is still in a mess!" Chad said as he picked up his basketball.

"Oh, right. Umm… pass the phone to Savannah," she ordered him. Chad sighed and handed the phone to Savannah.

"Hello?"

"…"

"Hey, Aunt Taylor!"

"…"

"Yeah…"

"…"

"Okay… Okay…"

"…"

"So, I have your permission?"

"…"

"Really?"

"…"

"Great!"

"…"

"Okay, don't you worry! Bye!" With that, Savannah hung up and turned to everyone in the living room. She switched off the television.

"Hey! I was watching that!" Clay protested.

"We have to clean the house," she said. Brandon chuckled. The boys just looked at Savannah defiantly while the adults and Andrea started cleaning.

"And we'll listen to you because?"

"Because your mother gave me permission to color your hair pink if you don't listen to me," Savannah answered, smirking triumphantly while the others groaned.

"This is going to be a long day," Tyler mumbled grumpily as he began cleaning.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

After one hour, fifty-seven minutes and thirty- three seconds of cleaning, Brandon Evans was exhausted but hey, who's counting? He picked up the phone as it rang.

"Hello?"

"Brandon? Is that you?" a voice asked on the other line. Brandon sat up immediately at the sound of Faith's voice.

"Faith? Are you guys already at the airport? You should be there by now," he said. He heard Faith sighing on the other line.

"What's wrong, Faith?"

"We missed the flight thanks to Uncle Zeke," she said.

"WHAT?! YOU GUYS MISSED THE FLIGHT?"

"Gimme that!" Troy exclaimed as he grabbed the phone from Brandon.

"Faith, pass the phone to your mother now," Troy ordered.

"Troy, I'm so sorry," Gabriella said. Troy felt his heart breaking and he frowned.

"I'm going to kill Zeke!"

"Bolton, put the phone on speaker because I really want to know why you want to kill my boyfriend!" Sharpay shrieked. Troy winced and put the phone on speaker.

"Okay, Mrs. Bolton. Speak up. What happened? Brandon said you said you missed your flight."

"Yes, Sharpay, we missed it and it's all thanks to your boyfriend because he was looking for something and he won't even tell us what."

"So, you guys missed your flight? How long more are we going to have to wait for you?"

"About another six hours."

"WHAT?!"

"Bolton, my ears are hurting from your shouting. Gabriella, put the phone on speaker, I wanna shout at him."

"Okay. You're on speaker. Say hello."

"ZEKE MICHAEL BAYLOR!"

"Hey, Sharpay. Before you say anything, it was a very important thing to me."

"You're still dead meat."

"Aw, man."

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Well, looks like we cleaned the house for nothing," Ryan said a few minutes after the phone call from Faith. The phone rang again and Tyler answered it.

"Hello? Hey, Mom!"

"…"

"No, they missed their flight. They won't be here for another six hours."

"…"

"Ouch! Mom, you don't have to shout, you know. Uncle Troy and Aunt Sharpay have already done that a lot today."

"…"

"Okay, we'll see you in ten minutes. Bye," he said and hung up.

"Mom and Alana are done at the salon. They should be home in ten minutes," he informed them. Sure enough, ten minutes later, the doorbell rang and Sharpay went to answer it.

"OH MY GOD!"

**A/N: Haha! Cliffy! Who's at the door? Review! **

**P.S. Check out my Camp Rock story, Through the Ups and Downs... It's a crossover between HSM and Camp Rock...  
**


	3. Over Protective

_Previously…_

"_Okay, we'll see you in ten minutes. Bye," he said and hung up. _

"_Mom and Alana are done at the salon. They should be home in ten minutes," he informed them. Sure enough, ten minutes later, the doorbell rang and Sharpay went to answer it. _

"_OH MY GOD!" _

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"What the hell happened to you?!" Sharpay shrieked as she let Taylor and Alana in, not bothering to lock the door. Alana was trying very hard to stifle her laughter while Taylor was glaring at Alana.

"Language, Sharpay."

"Sorry. But seriously, what happened?"

"Well, Mrs. Evans here decided that it would be fun to tell Leo to dye my hair pink," Taylor said as she glared at Alana and walked into the living room where everyone stared at her.

"What the hell happened to your hair?" Chad exclaimed as he went to inspect his wife's new hair.

"Language, Chad."

"Sorry. But seriously, what happened?"

"Ask Ryan's wife." She snapped, sitting on the couch.

"Wow. Ask Ryan's wife? That is the first time in a long time since you've refused to call anyone by their name," Troy said. Taylor narrowed her eyes at him. Ryan turned to look at his wife.

"So, Ryan's wife, what did you to Miss I-Love-Pink-So-Much-I-Just-Had-To-Die-My-Hair-The-Same-Color?" he asked, chuckling as he wrapped his arms around Alana and shivering inwardly as Taylor glared at him harder, if that was even possible.

"All I did was joke with Leo about how nice it would be if Taylor's hair were pink. How was I supposed to know he was going to take it seriously?"

"You didn't have to joke in the first place!" Taylor snapped, clearly upset. Troy sighed.

"You know, when I heard Sharpay shouting, I was kinda hoping that they had reached here and were just kidding about missing their flight," Troy said softly as he sat down on the couch, feeling miserable without Gabriella. The others in the room smiled sympathetically at Troy. Deciding to lighten the situation, Andrea started touching Taylor's hair.

"Faith's going to love your hair! She loves pink," Andrea said happily as she touched Taylor's hair, only to have her hand swatted away.

"Actually, Faith's favorite color is blue," Brandon corrected her. Andrea turned to face him, hands on her hips, eyebrows raised and with a smirk on her face.

"You know her favorite color?" she asked, amused. For the first time in a while, Brandon blushed.

"Brandon, what's Faith favorite food?" Clay asked, mocking his best friends' actions.

"Nachos," Brandon answered without hesitation before blushing into a deeper shade of crimson.

"Who's her favorite person in the world and why?" Alan asked, joining in the fun of embarrassing Brandon.

"Aunt Gabby's her favorite person because Faith looks up to her. She was and is a strong person," Brandon said. Tyler soon joined in.

"What's her favorite book?"

"Romeo and Juliet."

"Is she completely in love with you?" Savannah asked.

"Is who completely in love with him?" a new voice asked. Savannah and Andrea waved her off.

"Shut up, Faith. We're trying to see if he's in love – FAITH!" Andrea squealed as she wrestled Faith to the ground. Faith laughed as she hugged Andrea back. The others crowded around her as they hugged her one by one.

"Taylor, I think you can take off the wig now. I'm sure it's uncomfortable," she laughed as Taylor took the pink wig off and sighed in relief.

"Hey, what about us?" another new, yet familiar, voice asked. Troy turned around, grinning as he took his new wife in his arms and hugged her tightly.

"I missed you so much. You have no idea," he whispered. He heard her chuckle.

"I think I do," Gabriella whispered back as she kissed his cheek.

"ZEKE!" Sharpay squealed as she kissed him passionately before engulfing him into a tight hug.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to hold you in my arms," Zeke said as he smiled lovingly at her. She smiled back.

"I think we're going to have to share a room," Andrea informed her new sister. Faith just shrugged, unable to wipe the smile off her face. Her family was finally complete.

"Hey man. How was the flight?" Chad asked as he man hugged Jason.

"It was okay. The food was disgusting though," he said as he made a disgusted face. Chad laughed as he hugged Kelsi.

"Hey, small person. How's it going?" he asked. Kelsi smiled at him as she hugged Ryan before answering.

"Well, it's definitely better now that we're all together."

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"So, let me get this straight. That wig was bought so you guys could surprise us? So the drama was that my Mom was supposed to act all angry and upset and you guys were supposed to lighten the mood up?" Tyler asked as he sat on his bed with the rest of the teenagers. Brandon and Faith were on his study table. Alan was beside him. Mikayla was on the bean-bag couch and the rest were comfortable on the floor.

"It was all Brad's idea. He saw the wig and it popped into his head," McKenzie said with a hint of admiration in her eyes. Everyone turned to Brad and smiled at him except Paris. Instead, she just glared at him before getting up and walked out the door, banging it as she left.

"What's up with her? She's been moody since you guys reached here," Andrea asked, baffled as to why her sister was acting that way. Brad shrugged. Maybe it was Andrea's imagination but it looked like he was feeling guilty.

"Well, Andy, looks like it's time for the older sister talk," Faith said as she got up. Andrea nodded and stood up to. They were about to reach the door when Tyler stopped them.

"Looks like you're gonna have to wait. She just went out of the gate. Looks like she's going for a walk," Tyler informed them as he watched her stomp out of the house from his window.

"What if she gets lost?" Brad asked, worried. McKenzie rolled her eyes.

"Puh-lease. This is Paris we're talking about. She's been here a few times. She's probably just going to the park," she said knowingly.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Mom, I'm going for a walk. And I have my cell with me just in case I get lost," she told her mother. Not waiting for a reply, she walked out the door and just continued walking, having no idea as to where she was going but also not caring that she did not know where she was going.

How could he do that? It was her idea, not his, and everyone was claiming that he was the genius! He stole the idea from her! How could he? He was her brother for crying out loud! She was always in his shadow. She was the quiet twin. The one whom everyone would see second. Brad was always first. She was the unimportant twin.

She was so lost in her thoughts that the next thing she knew, she was on the ground, her head throbbing painfully. She heard another voice beside her groan. She saw the person get up and he extended his hand to help her up. She gladly took and smiled thankfully and apologetically at him.

"Sorry about that. Should have looked at where I was going," the boy apologized. He looked about her age. Paris shook her head.

"It's my fault too," she smiled.

"I'm Kevin. Kevin Pressers," the person introduced himself and held out his hand again, this time for her to shake it instead of being lifted off the ground. Paris smiled and shook his hand.

"Paris Gomez."

"Well, if there's anything I can do to make up for that, just let me know," he said, smiling at her.

"Do you play basketball?" she asked, noticing the basketball in his hands. Kevin nodded and Paris grinned.

"Yeah, I was supposed to play with my friends but they bailed," Kevin shrugged.

"Well, you don't really have to make up for anything but how about a friendly game? But, you don't have to be too friendly. Just give it your best shot," she asked as she took the ball from him and twirled it with her hands. Kevin grinned at her back.

"Deal."

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"It's been two hours! We are looking for her!" Troy exclaimed worriedly as he grabbed his and his wife's jacket and handed it to her. Gabriella nodded at Taylor and Chad. Everyone else had gone home so it was there were only the residents in the mansion. The people includes the Danforth family, and the Boltons. Zekepay, Savannah and Mikayla had gone back to Sharpay's mansion. Jelsi and McKenzie were with them temporarily until they could get a house of their own.

"Wait. I'm coming with you," Brad said. Troyella nodded at him and all three of them walked out the door to find Paris.

A few minutes later, they found her playing basketball with a boy they did not know. Troy smiled as he saw her step daughter fake right and break left and scored. He had taught her that.

"That's my girl," he chuckled. Gabriella grinned at him. Brad looked at the two of them incredulously.

"She's playing with a guy she barely knows!" he exclaimed, getting into over-protective mode. Gabriella rolled her eyes, recognizing the symptoms of Brad's over-protectiveness. Troy, on the other hand, seemed to notice that too, and immediately got out of the car, his step-son following after him.

"Paris Gomez-Bolton!"

"Troy! Did you see that shot I just made?" she asked, excitedly. Troy just narrowed his eyes at her and glared at Kevin. That boy looked familiar. Paris looked stunned for a moment before looking at her twin who had the same look as Troy. Well, people who knew them always called her the smart twin and she managed to connect the dots. I mean, it was obvious that Troy and Brad were both glaring at Kevin.

"Mom, Troy, Brad, this is Kevin Pressers. He goes to East High too," she introduced them. So that's where he had seen the boy before! He went to East High.

"Coach Bolton," Kevin politely shook their hands and looked at his watch. His eyes widened.

"Oh no! I was supposed to be home ten minutes ago! I'm so sorry, Paris. I guess I'll just see you in school," he said, nodding at her. Paris nodded and waved him goodbye.

"It was nice meeting all of you," he said as he ran from the basketball court. Paris glared at her brother before turning to her mother.

"Well, let's go," she said as she walked to the car. Gabriella and Troy looked questioningly at Brad but he just shrugged. Deep down, he was feeling very hurt that Paris was ignoring him. That rarely happened.

**A/N: Don't forget to tell me what you think! Paris and Kevin? Hmm… maybe… **


	4. Shocked

_Previously…_

"_It was nice meeting all of you," Kevin said as he ran from the basketball court. Paris glared at her brother before turning to her mother. _

"_Well, let's go," she said as she walked to the car. Gabriella and Troy looked questioningly at Brad but he just shrugged. Deep down, he was feeling very hurt that Paris was ignoring him. That rarely happened. _

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Andrea and Faith, you're going to have to share a room," Troy informed the two teenage girls as he, Gabriella and the twins walked into the dining room. Faith and Andrea looked at each other and shrugged.

"I don't mind," Faith said, smiling. Andrea nodded.

"Me too," she told her father. Troy smiled at how close those two have grown. It still amazed him that they were the reason behind him and Gabriella getting back together again.

"You know it's as if the two of you have known each other your whole lives," Gabriella smiled fondly at the two of them.

"It's scary. One teenage girl was enough. Now we have three," Clay shuddered. Andrea glared at him before smacking his head while the others laughed at Clay's face.

"Dude! You just got smacked by a girl!" Tyler exclaimed as he laughed at his brother. Paris turned to him, hands on her hips.

"And the problem with that is?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"N-Nothing. I just mean that my brother's gay," he stammered. Clay, Taylor and Chad glared at him.

"Run," they growled together. Tyler let out a girlish scream before running up the steps and into his room, forgetting about his dinner. The whole room burst out laughing at his antics.

"He'll come down. He's Chad's son. He can't go to dinner without food," Gabriella chuckled, making everyone in the room laugh again and earning herself a glare from Chad.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Three weeks later, the Bolton- Danforth household was a complete mess. You see, everyone was starting school the next day and they were getting everything ready. Well, the girls and Tyler were doing it because it was the right thing to do while the guys were being forced to do it. Seeing as how every one of the residents was going to be in East High, this year was going to be interesting.

Troy and Chad were working as the basketball coaches and gym teachers at East High. Taylor had been the Mathematics teacher at East High since she got married and was still continuing her job. Gabriella would be the new Chemistry and part time drama teacher. Yes, drama. Who knew? The teenagers were going to be well, students. What else could they be?

As for the rest of the gang? Well, Zeke, Kelsi and Jason were busy setting up their new restaurant. Alana was currently a cook at some restaurant but she was going to be the assistant cook at Jelsi's and Zeke's new restaurant when it was finally in business. She was supposed to be working as a teacher but she wanted a working experience out of the education system so she had decided to be a cook. Ryan and Sharpay were the directors of a dance school.

You see, after college, the two of them had wanted to be independent (Ryan more than Sharpay) had set up a dancing school with the help of their inheritance and a lot of motivation from the gang. When both of their parents passed away, they had also inherited Lava Springs, a country club that had been built by their parents so that the family had somewhere to go during the holidays.

"Paris? Have you seen my socks?" Brad asked as he walked into her room. Paris just ignored him, knowing it was one of his lame attempts to get her to talk to him, and turned the volume of the music up. Brad sighed before going out of her room, his face hanging down dejectedly.

Now, back to the Bolton- Danforth residence. Three weeks had passed and Paris was still not talking to Brad. If she did talk to him, it would be because she was being forced to. Faith and Andrea had tried talking to her about it but she was just being stubborn.

Paris had also been going out with Kevin a couple of times for the past week. In Kevin, Paris found a friend. A friend who understood her, who held her while she cried and who listened to her complain about her brother. Kevin would tell her his problems. How his brothers were constantly bullying him. How his parents were fighting every night. How his dad got when he was drunk.

After hearing him talk about his problems, Paris would instantly feel bad about complaining to him. He had such huge problems and there she was, complaining about Brad. Brad and Troy were always glaring at Kevin and on some occasions, the other guys in the gang would join in. What amazed her was that Kevin did not seem fazed by it. Andrea and Faith had suspected that there may be something between the two of them but Paris had instantly denied it. Kevin and her were just friends. When she was with him, she felt like she was in the company of Brandon, Clay, Alan, Brad or Tyler. She considered him to be her brother and nothing more.

She was still in love with David. With David, it was different. With David, she felt like the happiest girl in the world. She felt as if nothing else mattered except the two of them. She wanted to be more than friends with him. Kevin Pressers was her friend, her confidante. And that was all he was ever going to be because Paris Gomez was completely in love with David Camden and nothing could stop that. Not even the fact that he was a long way away from her.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Kelsi walked into the living room to find her husband on the phone with a sorrowful look on his face. He was pacing up and down on the carpet and if he did not stop soon, he would burn a hole in the carpet. She saw her husband tense and rubbed the back of his head nervously. She saw his eyes widen before he put down the phone and put his head in his hands as he sat down on the couch. Kelsi looked at him worriedly before wrapping her arms him. She waited for him to calm down. When he was ready, he looked at her with sorrow-filled eyes and for the first time in a long time, Jason Cross looked worried.

"They're gone, Kels," he said softly, his voice filled with so much sorrow, as he hugged her closer to him for his own comfort. Kelsi pulled away from him.

"Who, Jase?"

"The Jamesons. And they left David in our custody," he said as Kelsi's tensed face turned into a shocked one.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Dad! Alana! We're going over to the Boltons for some b-ball. We're having dinner there," Brandon shouted before going to the car. Alan kissed his mother on the cheek and high- fived his step-father before joining his brother in the car. When he heard the car zooming away, Ryan turned to his wife.

"We have the whole house to ourselves, you know," Ryan said as he smiled seductively at his wife. Alana giggled and started kissing him. Things started to heat up when the phone rang. Ryan groaned and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi. May I speak to Ryan Evans, please?"

"Speaking."

"Ah, Mr. Evans! My name is Melissa Hamilton from Social Services. I'm here to inform you that that your daughter would be arriving next Tuesday."

"Yes, that'll be- WHAT?" Ryan yelped. Alana looked at him worriedly.

"Your daughter, Mr. Evans. Melinda Elizabeth Gordon Evans," the person on the phone said. Ryan dropped the phone in shock.

**A/N: Ahahaha! Two cliffhangers! Jelsi and Rylana! How are they going to get through it? And poor Brad. How long will Paris ignore him for? Sorry it was short. I should be able to update the next one by Friday. Review! **


	5. Dissappointed

_Previously…_

_Kelsi walked into the living room to find her husband on the phone with a sorrowful look on his face. He was pacing up and down on the carpet and if he did not stop soon, he would burn a hole in it. She saw her husband tense and rub the back of his head nervously. She saw his eyes widen before he put down the phone and put his head in his hands as he sat down on the couch. Kelsi looked at him worriedly before wrapping her arms him. She waited for him to calm down. When he was ready, he looked at her with sorrow-filled eyes and for the first time in a long time, Jason Cross looked worried. _

"_They're gone, Kels," he said as he hugged her closer to him for his own comfort. Kelsi pulled away from him. _

"_Who, Jase?"_

"_The Jamesons. And they left David in our custody," he said as Kelsi's tensed face turned into a shocked one. _

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"W-what?" she stammered, looking at her husband as though he had grown two heads.

"They left their grandson, David Camden, in our custody," Jason repeated slowly.

"B-but why?"

"Well, David doesn't really have anybody else left, does he? I mean, his parents are gone. His paternal grandparents disowned his father and now, his maternal grandparents are gone too. He only has us now," Jason said resonably as he looked at his wife. The brunette gaped at him before composing herself.

"We have to talk to McKenzie about this. She'll have to have a say in this too," Kelsi said. Jason nodded before leaving the living room to call his daughter. Kelsi shook her head before sitting down on the couch and put her head into her hands.

How were they going to raise another child? They had adopted Kyle and they had lost him. How were they going to raise David?

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

_Previously…_

"_Dad! Alana! We're going over to the Boltons for some b-ball. We're having dinner there," Brandon shouted before going to the car. Alan kissed his mother on the cheek and high- fived his step-father before joining his brother in the car. When he heard the car zooming away, Ryan turned to his wife. _

"_We have the whole house to ourselves, you know," Ryan said as he smiled seductively at his wife. Alana giggled and started kissing him. Things started to heat up when the phone rang. Ryan groaned and answered the phone. _

"_Hello?" _

"_Hi. May I speak to Ryan Evans, please?"_

"_Speaking."_

"_Ah, Mr. Evans! My name is Melissa Hamilton from Social Services. I'm here to inform you that that your daughter would be arriving next Tuesday."_

"_Yes, that'll be- WHAT?" Ryan yelped. Alana looked at him worriedly. _

"_Your daughter, Mr. Evans. Melinda Elizabeth Gordon Evans," the person on the phone said. Ryan dropped the phone in shock. _

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Hello?" Alana picked up the phone, looking worriedly at her husband.

"Hi. Umm… Is Mr. Ryan Evans still there?" the person on the phone asked.

"Umm… he's kinda… paralyzed right now. But I'll be happy to take your message," Alana said as Ryan just stood still, still frozen.

"Oh… Okay. Well, like I've said previously, Melinda Evans will be arriving next Tuesday."

"And Melinda Evans is?"

"Ryan Evan's daughter." For the second time, the phone dropped.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"I'm home!" McKenzie announced as she walked into the living room.

"Whoa. Who died?" she asked after seeing her parents' solemn faces.

"The Jamesons," Jason answered. McKenzie looked at her mother before blinking at her father.

"W-What?"

"They died in a car crash," Jason informed his daughter with sorrow-filled eyes.

"Oh. God. What about David? He doesn't have anyone else," McKenzie asked, panicking about the boy she considered her brother.

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about, Kenz. They've left David in our custody."

"W-what? B-But… That's amazing! I mean, I would have preferred it if it were under different circumstances but this is great! When is he coming?"

"Whoa! Slow down! We haven't decided yet," Kelsi said. McKenzie looked at them, confused.

"What do you mean? What's there to decide?"

"Well, having another child is a huge responsibility! We have to think through first!"

"I don't believe this! The Jamesons' would've been so disappointed in you! They chose you to raise David! And you guys are just sitting here considering not adopting him! How could you? Kyle would be so disappointed in you! Hell, I'm disappointed in you!" she screamed the last sentence.

"McKenzie Prudence Cross! How dare you talk to us like that!" Kelsi scolded her daughter.

"I'll talk to you the way I want to! How do you think David will feel when he finds out you don't wan to adopt him?"

"We didn't say we don't want to adopting him!"

"But you're considering it! How do you think he'll feel? We've been given a second chance. We've got to take it! Kyle would've been so disappointed in the both of you. Don't bother making dinner for me." With that, McKenzie Cross went to her room to pack her stuff before she stomped out of the house, leaving her parents to feel ashamed of themselves.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Brad opened the front door after everyone in the dining room had ganged up against him to open it (Paris had been the lead). He was greeted by a sight that broke his heart. McKenzie was standing in front of him, with tear tracks on her cheeks. Her eyes looked red and puffy so it was pretty much obvious that she had been crying. She collapsed into his arms and started crying again. Brad soothed her as he started wondering what had happened to make his best friend, also the love of his life, cry like that.

"Kenz? What's wrong?" Brad asked as he gently pulled away from her. McKenzie sniffled.

"I had a fight with my parents. Is it okay if I stay here tonight? I brought my stuff. If I can't, I'll just go –"

"Of course you can stay here. It's your home too," Brad interrupted her, his voice gentle, just like it always was when he spoke to her. McKenzie smiled at him softly in appreciation.

"BRAD! WHO'S AT THE DOOR?" Faith screamed from the dining room. Brad rolled his eyes at his sister's laziness. Knowing Faith, someone, most likely to have been his mother, had probably asked her to check who was at the door and why Brad was taking so long.

"IT'S KENZ! TELL MOM THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!"

"I THINK SHE HEARD YOU! KENZ, DO YOU WANT SOME DINNER?" Brad looked at McKenzie who was having a hard time controlling her laughter at the siblings' shouting. She looked at her best friend and nodded.

"YES! SHE WANTS DINNER!"

"THEN WOULD YOU TWO PLEASE HURRY? WE'RE ALL STARVING HERE BECAUSE THE TWO OF YOU WERE PROBABLY MAKING OUT WHEN WE AREN'T LOOKING! OW!" Clay shouted. McKenzie and Brad laughed nervously, both of them as red as tomatoes.

"WHO HIT YOU?" McKenzie asked.

"I DID! AND IF THE TWO OF YOU DON'T GET IN HERE FAST, YOU'LL BE NEXT!" Andrea shouted this time.

"SHE WON'T BE THE ONLY ONE HITTING YOU!" Chad's voice followed.

"Well, the family awaits," Brad grinned as he held out his hands. McKenzie gladly took it.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Alana picked up the phone even though she was clearly still shocked. I've got to say though; she was doing way better than Ryan who was still standing still.

"Okay. He'll be there to pick her up at the airport on Tuesday? Is there anything else he needs to know?" Alana asked.

"Well, we'll call him if there's anything else we need to know. May I ask who's taking this message please?"

"Alana Ritchie."

"And you are his?"

"Wife."

"Oh. Uh-oh."

"Yep. Uh-oh. Would that be all?"

"Ah… yes, that would be all… Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome. Goodbye."

"Yes… Umm… Goodbye."

Alana hung up the phone and glared at her husband. Finally coming out of his trance, Ryan looked at her.

"So, when were you going to tell me about your secret daughter?" Alana asked as she glared at him harder.

"Alana, I swear I didn't know about her."

"I can't even look at you right now," her voice cracked as she stormed up the stairs, tears welled up in her eyes.

"Oh boy," Ryan muttered as he sat down on the couch and put covered his head in his hands.

**A/N: I'm so sorry I didn't update it on Friday! I was sick from Wednesday to Saturday. It's probably the longest period of time that I've been sick… Well, I'm feeling much better now hence, the update of Everyday of Our Lives!**

**Review!**


	6. Family

_Previously…_

"_So, when were you going to tell me about your secret daughter?" Alana asked as she glared at him harder. _

"_Alana, I swear I didn't know about her."_

"_I can't even look at you right now," she said as she stormed up the stairs, tears welled up in her eyes. _

"_Oh boy," Ryan muttered as he sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. _

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Dad? Is there a particular reason you're lying down on the couch?" Brandon asked his father as he and Alan walked into the living room to find their father staring into blank space. Ryan sat up and looked at the two boys. He sighed.

"Boys. Sit down. We need to talk," he said as Brandon and Alan sat down beside him.

"This isn't about the birds and the bees, is it? Cause if it is, then I am out of here," Brandon said worriedly. Ryan just shook his head while Alan rolled his eyes at his brother. Ryan rubbed the side of his head continuously as the boys looked at him worriedly.

"Dad? You okay?" Brandon asked. Ryan shook his head and looked at the boys again.

"Boys, I don't know how to break it to you," he said. Alan and Brandon looked at each other before facing their father.

"Ryan, whatever it is, I'm sure we can work it out," Alan said. Ryan smiled sadly at him.

"You guys are going to be brothers," he said. After a long deafening silence, a loud scream could be heard.

"WHAT?!"

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Kenz? Your mom just called and she said you had a fight. You wanna talk about it, honey?" Gabriella asked gently as she hugged the girl she knew would one day become her daughter-in-law. Sure, it was a little early to predict things but hey, it's the motherly instincts!

"You know what it was about, don't you?" McKenzie asked the woman she considered her aunt. Gabriella nodded, waiting for the young girl to let it all out.

"It's just… Urgh! Kyle would've been so disappointed with them! Heck, I'm disappointed with them!" Kenz blurted out. Gabriella smiled sympathetically at her niece as Kenz went on rambling.

"I mean, David needs us! He just lost his grandparents, for crying out loud! He needs people who care about him around him. If Paris knows about this, she would be shouting at Mom and Dad like crazy. And don't they see? It's meant to be!" Kenz exclaimed. Gabriella looked at her, confused.

"What's meant to be?"

"Fate wanted you and Uncle Troy to be together, right?" she asked as Gabriella nodded. "Well, in bringing you and Uncle Troy together, it brought Uncle Zeke and Aunt Sharpay together. Hence, all the moving from New York to Albuquerque. Now, Paris and David are meant to be. By moving here, they have been separated and it's not their destiny to be apart. So, by being my brother, he will have no choice but to move here and he and Paris can live happily ever after! Plus, Brad and I will get our other best friend back. See, it's so simple!"

"So, basically all you were trying to say is that it's fate and destiny and they can't change it?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, to put it into lesser words, yes. Of course, it would be better if the Jamesons were alive and David were moving here under different circumstances," Kenz rambled on.

"What do you mean _if_ the Jamesons were alive?" a new voice shrieked.

_Oh shit,_ Kenz thought as she turned around and looked into the eyes of a very panic-stricken Paris Gomez.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Mom's pregnant?!" Alan shrieked. Ryan shook his head. The two boys looked at the older man, confused.

"Dad? What's going on? We're going to be brothers but Alana's not pregnant. So that only leaves us with two choices," Brandon said, looking at his brother.

"Choice A. You and Mom are going to adopt. Choice B. You have an unknown daughter somewhere in the world. And by the look on your face, it's definitely not choice A," Alan stated.

"What? Why is it that Dad has an unknown child? Why couldn't she be your Mom's?" Brandon asked. Alan rolled his eyes again at his step-brother's stupidity.

"Because, Mom would know if she had a child seeing as she would have to go through nine months of crazy hormones," Alan stated.

"Oh. Umm… Let's pretend I never asked that question, shall we?" he asked nervously. Ryan just chuckled and patted his son's shoulder while Alan just turned to Ryan.

"So, we have a sister now? How old is she?" he asked.

"I don't know. I kinda dropped the phone right after I heard her full name."

"Which is?" Brandon asked.

"Melinda Elizabeth Gordon Evans."

"You didn't know about her, right?" Alan asked, wanting to make sure that his step-father would never abandon a child.

"I would never allow her to live without a father. She's my responsibility too. Not only her mothers'. A child needs it's mother the most but it also needs it's father," Ryan said. Alan nodded while Brandon looked at his father.

"How did Alana take it?" he asked. Seeing his father wince, he knew immediately Alana had not taken it well.

"That bad, huh, Dad?" Brandon asked. Ryan just nodded. Just as he nodded, Alana walked into the room, her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"All three of you. Sit," she ordered as she paced back and forth.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"MIKAYLA! HOW COULD YOU?" Savannah screamed as she threw a cup at her. Mikayla ducked hid behind the couch as Savannah began throwing other things at her.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Sharpay yelled as she and Zeke stormed into the house. She held her daughter's hands so that Savannah would stop throwing things around. Savannah hugged her mother and sobbed. Mikayla got out from her hiding spot and stood behind her father. She looked at Sharpay.

"She thinks I stole her lip gloss," Mikayla stated. Sharpay raised her eyebrows and let go of her daughter.

"You were crying because of that?" she asked incredulously.

"It was the lip gloss Parker gave me! It's missing, Mom! That lip gloss is special!" Savannah wailed.

"Drama queen," Mikayla mumbled. Zeke heard her and tried very hard to stop smiling. He whirled around.

"Did you take her lip gloss?" he asked sternly. Mikayla shook her head.

"She didn't take it," he said firmly.

"How do you know she's not lying?" Sharpay asked, more out of surprise than accusingly. Luckily, Zeke knew the tone and answered her question.

"It's easy to tell if she's lying," he said simply.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Kenz? What did you mean?" Paris asked, her voice dropping dangerously low. McKenzie then realized Paris didn't know about the Fate thing she was talking about and it should probably stay that way. However, she told Paris about everything that had happened at her house before she came to sleep over at the Bolton's and Danforth's.

"B-But! David needs us! What are we still doing here? We're supposed to be on our way to New York now! He's going to bottle up his feelings again and his grades will drop and oh god!" Paris started hyperventilating.

"Paris, honey, I'm going need you to calm down. David is going to be fine. He's a strong boy. And Jason and Kelsi will be flying there tomorrow so please, relax," Gabriella soothed her daughter. Soon after, Paris had calmed down and was fast asleep in her mother's arms. Or so, Gabriella thought. Gabriella laid her daughter down gently and McKenzie thanked her aunt before going to bed herself.

Once Gabriella was out of the room and she was sure McKenzie and the rest of the house was asleep, Paris sat up and dialed the number of an old friend.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Whatever it is, we're going to get through this together, as a family. I admit that I'm not too thrilled either. But when I said my wedding vows, I meant every single word of it," she said as she smiled at her husband encouragingly. Ryan smiled back at her softly while Brandon and Alan just shrugged.

"Well, she arrives next Tuesday so we still have time to decorate a room for her. So, the two of you are to get to bed now and help me pick out stuff for your new sister tomorrow," she said, smirking as the two teenage boys groaned.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you," Ryan said as he smiled at her, his eyes full of love. Alana just smiled and kissed him passionately.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Blake? It's Paris. Listen, can I borrow your jet?"

**A/N: Oooo! Adventure! Woo Hoo! Hahas… Review!**


	7. Leaving Albuquerque

"Brad? Brad! Wake up!" Paris whisper-yelled at her twin brother. She was still angry with him but she felt that he needed to know about David. Brad stirred but did not wake up. Paris rolled her eyes ad saw the glass of water on his bedside table. She smirked as she emptied it onto his face. Brad bolted up and was about to yell but could not. Why? Simple reason. Paris knew her twin brother too well and had covered his mouth.

"Shh! Get up and get dressed. We're going to New York. I'll answer all your questions when you're ready," she whispered before she went out of the room for her brother to change. Brad was definitely confused but he did what he was told to do anyway. It must have been urgent since Paris was talking to him after a few weeks. It was probably about David and he would probably not like the conversation they were about to have but he was desperate to talk to his twin no matter what.

"Okay, what's up?" Brad asked as he walked into his sister's room the moment he was dressed. He was surprised to find McKenzie up too. McKenzie looked at him and he saw that she was looking worried. She got up and pointed to Paris who was packing some stuff into a backpack.

"Your twin sister has officially lost it. She thinks she's going to fly to New York to see David," McKenzie explained. Brad's eyes widened as he turned to face his sister.

"Please tell me that McKenzie's just saying that and not meaning it," he pleaded. Paris glared at him and just continued packing.

"We are going to be in so much trouble when Mom and Troy find out," he groaned. Paris snapped at him.

"Well I don't care if we get into trou- Wait, what do you mean by 'we'?" she asked. Brad raised his eyebrows at his sister.

"You really don't think I'm going to let you go alone, are you?" he asked, crossing his arms. Paris just rolled her eyes and hugged her brother, as if nothing had happened between them for the past few weeks. Kenz looked at them as though they had just told her that Brandon still kept his old teddy bear.

"The Gomez twins have officially lost it!" she whispered-shrieked, only to be glared at by Brad and Paris.

"Correction. The Gomez-Montez-Bolton kids have officially lost it," a new voice groaned as the person entered the room with his younger brother, his best friend and his best friends' sister with a huge backpack slung over his shoulders.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"They're up to something," Alana said knowingly to her husband. Ryan looked at her, confused. Alana rolled her eyes.

"They're still up," she said.

"Alana, they're asleep. I checked on them just now. They were both in their rooms and had packed. Relax," Ryan soothed her as he hugged her closer.

"I love you," she said as she kissed him softly on the lips. Ryan smiled.

"I love you too," he said, inhaling her scent and burying his face in her hair. Alana snuggled closer to him, loving his touch and how he made her feel. A few minutes later, both lovers were asleep unaware of the shock they were soon going to receive.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"What are you guys doing here?" Brad asked, surprised at the arrival of the four new additions.

"Andy! Thank god! Knock some sense into them! They wanna fly to New York in Blake's jet!" Kenz sold her friends out. Brad and Paris glared at her harder.

"Why do you think I'm carrying this extra heavy backpack? We're all going!" Clay whined. Andrea rolled her eyes and hit him on his head while everyone else was thankful that the room was far from Troyella's and Chaylor's room.

"Blake called me to confirm the jet details and I got everything out of him," Faith informed her sister who was obviously wondering how they knew.

"WHAT?! Are you guys out of your freakishly insane minds? Our first day of school is tomorrow!" Kenz shrieked. The others just rolled their eyes and walked out of the room to get to the car, leaving McKenzie just standing there.

"Are you coming or not?" Brad asked as he and Paris waited for her outside the door. Kenz just shrugged and followed after them.

"Might as well take the chance to miss school," she said.

Faith left a note on the counter for the adults before joining the others in the car to get to the airport. Faith, Tyler and Paris were in one car with Faith as the diver and Clay, Andrea, McKenzie and Brad were in Clay's car. All the teenagers were well aware of the consequences they were going to have to face.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all at the airport, and were surprised to find Alan, Brandon, Mikayla and Savannah already there.

"As if we would let you guys have all the fun. Besides, Jamie can't wait to meet Alan and she called him. She's excited to see us," Mikayla explained, nudging Alan as she teased him. Alan rolled his eyes and blushed. Jamie was Blake's step-daughter. She was seventeen and she and Alan had gotten off pretty well. Unfortunately, it was a known fact that she did not really get on well with Brandon. The others still looked confused.

"What she means is that Blake told Jamie that Paris was going to New York tonight and she thought I was going too and she called me. So, I found out about your little trip and told Brandon who told Mikayla and Savannah and WA LA! Here we are," Alan said. Faith laughed and hugged Brandon while Mikayla, Savannah and Andrea shared knowing glances. Brad and Paris raised their eyebrows while McKenzie had to stifle a giggle. The other guys were making puking sounds.

"Well! Enough of the lovey-dovey stuff! C'mon! Before our parents find out what we're up to. We only have a deal with Blake until tomorrow when he will bust us out," Paris said.

"What deal?" Tyler asked. Paris smirked.

"Let's just say it involves a little blackmail," Paris hinted and walked away while the others just stood confused before shrugging and then checking in.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

A loud scream was heard in the Evans' household when Alana woke up the next morning. She frantically dialed Troyella's and Chaylor's residence as Ryan raced down the stairs when he had heard Alana's frantic screams. He found Alana on the phone with a very worried look on her face and a piece of paper in her other hand.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Taylor groaned as the phone rang and stirred. She sat up and picked up the phone to hear Gabriella had already answered it and was talking to a very panic-stricken Alana. Knowing that Taylor had also answered the phone, Alana repeated what she had been saying and Taylor's eyes widened. A few seconds later, she growled. Oh, those kids were in so much trouble! Taylor hung up and kicked Chad out of the bed as she walked into the bathroom, leaving behind her very sleepy and confused husband.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Zeke woke up to his fiancé's loud voice on the phone. That rarely happened. He was usually the first one up. Sharpay was on the phone and she had a worried look on her face. She thanked the person on the phone and hung up. She smiled at Zeke softly and told him to get dress because they were going to the Troyella's and Chaylor's house. Oh, that couldn't be good seeing as it was the first day of school and they had to go over there.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Jason and Kelsi woke up and silently packed their stuff. Their flight was at one and they had been thinking about apologizing to McKenzie and wishing her good luck for her first day of school. Little did they know the shock they were going to get when they arrived at Troyella's house.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Troy woke up to find Gabriella's side of the bed empty. He yawned as he sat up and looked at the clock. His eyes widened as he looked at the time. Why had Gabriella not woken him up? An even better question would be why the house was so quiet when it was supposed to be the first day of school. He got out of bed and showered before getting ready for his first day at East High that year.

He went into the kitchen to find breakfast and was surprised to find Alana, Ryan, Sharpay and Zeke there. He was even more surprised that none of the kids were there and Chad was up and ready before him. Gabriella, Sharpay, Alana and Taylor each had a letter in their hands.

"What's going on?" he asked, suddenly not having a very good feeling in his gut. Gabriella shoved the piece of paper into his hands.

_Dear Mom and Troy,_

_We, your four amazing children, Andrea, Faith, Brad and Paris, have probably flown to New York by now with the help of Blake's private jet. Before you call Blake, Mom, I want you to know that he is not in fault here. We made him promise not to tell you or anyone else and you know how Blake keeps his promises. Anyway, we're fine. Clay and Tyler insisted on coming with us. Actually, Tyler insisted but Clay wanted to stay so tell Aunt Taylor Clay was against it. Mom, you know Paris is crazy over David and he's like a brother to all of us. There's no way we're going to let him go through the funeral alone. He needs to know that we'll be there for him. Troy, you told us that true friends will go to the ends of the earth for each other and that's exactly what we're doing. You guys know that you would have done the exact same thing for any of our uncles or aunts. _

_We love you guys and don't worry. We're safe. We'll be calling you guys soon. And we won't complain if you ground us till we're 30 because we know we deserve it. We know of the consequences but we're still going to do this no matter what. David has always been a part of our family and he always will be. And families will do anything for each other. _

_Love,_

_Faith, Andrea, Brad and Paris_

_P.S. McKenzie's with us._

"Oh no they didn't!" Troy exclaimed, horror-struck.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Me? Why should I? You do it!"

"This was your idea! And besides, I already wrote the note!"

"But Faith, Mom will probably scream at me and then I'll go deaf!"

"Well, somebody's gonna have to face the wrath. You do it, Andy!"

"What? Why me?"

"Because you're daddy's little girl! You can sweet talk Troy into sweet talking Mom."

"Pfft. Yeah, right. This situation is even worse than when I sneaked to summer camp last year. Brad, you do it."

"And be grounded till I'm thirty? I don't think so."

"Umm… Yeah… About that grounded part…"

"Faith, what did you do?"

"Brad, put the knife down. I kinda told them that they could ground us till we're thirty and that we won't complain."

"YOU WHAT?!"

"Knives down, people!"

"Okay, what did Faith do this time?"

"How come I'm always the first suspect?"

"Because your siblings are glaring at you so hard that they might burn a whole through your head. And not to mention that I'm still angry at you for getting me into trouble with the tattoos."

"C'mon, Kayl. That was like a zillion years ago."

" It was last year and I'm ignoring you now. So, what did she do?"

"She told our parents they have permission to ground us until we're thirty!"

"Hate to break it to you but we're all going to be grounded until we turn fifty. Thirty's too soon to our parents."

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Oh yes, they did," Sharpay's voice was murderous. Troy looked at his friends faces and was about to say something but was interrupted as Jason and Kelsi burst through the door.

"What's the emergency?" Jason huffed, out of breath.

"You daughter is on the way to New York with our children," Gabriella said. Kelsi and Jason looked at each other before looking at the rest of the gang.

"But I thought we're going to New York?" he asked pointing at him and Kelsi. Kelsi rolled her eyes, hit his head and walked over to the gang to get the whole story.

"All these years, and she still does that," Jason muttered, shaking his head before walking over to the gang. Within a few minutes, the couple had been filled in.

"N-no way," Kelsi stuttered, too loss for words. Jason looked at his friends faces and stopped when he saw Troy's and Chad's. Instead of looking worried and angry like the others, they looked, dare he say, amused?

"Why aren't you guys angry?" he asked as he pointed to the two of them. Troy and Chad looked at each other and then burst out laughing like maniacs. Gabriella and Taylor looked angrier, if that was even possible. How could those two idiots be laughing at something so serious?

"You two better have a good reason for laughing because if you don't, I swear to god, you're going to be buried soon," Taylor hissed. Troy and Chad immediately stopped laughing after hearing the rare venom in Taylor's voice.

"Don't they all remind you of some people?" Chad asked.

"Huh?"

"Do you guys remember when we were all fifteen and Gabriella had moved to London for a while?" Troy asked. Gabriella and Taylor softened and nodded along with everyone in the room except Alana.

"What happened when you were fifteen?" she asked, feeling left out.

"Well, Gabriella's mother had decided to send her to a boarding school…"

_Flashback…_

_Fifteen-year-old Gabriella Montez was sobbing her heart out on the balcony of her room. She had just found out that her mother was sending her to a boarding school the following week. Gabriella had gotten into too much trouble that her mother had decided to send her to a boarding school to turn her into a lady. _

"_Gabby? Are you okay?" a voice asked. Gabriella jumped and saw her best friend beside her looking very worried. He must have climbed up the tree again. Gabriella shook her head and flung her arms around Troy and started crying again. Troy just held her tighter and ran his fingers through her hair, comforting her even though he did not know what the problem was. _

"_Ella, what's wrong?" he asked, using his special nickname for her. Gabriella sniffed. _

"_My mom's making me go to a boarding school in London!" she wailed and hugged her best friend tighter. Troy stopped running his hand through her hair and froze. _

"_W-what?" he stammered. _

"_She said I've been getting into too much trouble and my grades are slipping. And sending me to London is the only choice," Gabriella mumbled but Troy heard every word of it. He lifted her chin gently with his hand. _

"_When do you leave?" he asked. _

"_Next week," she sniffled. _

"_I'm going to miss you," he said as he kissed her forehead. _

"_I'm going to miss you more," Gabriella said as she snuggled closer to him. The two of them stayed that way the whole night, afraid of letting each other go. _

_The next week, the gang was all at the airport saying their goodbyes. The girls all let their emotions out while the boys had a hard time concealing them. Especially Troy. _

"_I'm going to miss you, Gabster," Chad said as he hugged her. Gabriella hugged him back. _

"_You take care of Tay for me, okay?" she whispered. Chad scoffed. _

"_Why do I get Mrs. Know-It-All?" he whined. Gabriella rolled her eyes and hugged Taylor. _

"_Win the decathlon for me, okay?" Gabriella asked. Taylor nodded and smiled. She hugged the Evans twins next. _

"_No killing each other, got it?" she asked sternly. Sharpay and Ryan chuckled and the three group-hugged, Next, she turned to Zeke. _

"_Ask her out already. You might be surprised at what she might say," Gabriella advised him. Zeke just nodded and engulfed her in a bear hug. _

"_I'm going to miss you, l'il sis," he said. Gabriella sniffled. _

"_I'm going to miss you too. I'll miss your cookies more but I'll still miss you," she joked. Zeke laughed. Jason and Kelsi hugged her together. _

"_Thanks for getting us together, Gabs. I don't know what we'd do without you," Jason said. _

"_Well, you're about to find out," Gabriella sniffled sadly. Last but definitely not least was Troy. _

"_I love you," she whispered. Troy hugged her. _

"_I love you too," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. Minutes later, Gabriella Montez was on her way to London. _

_Two months after Gabriella had left, the gang was still missing her and she was missing them. They knew because they could tell she was trying to sound happy at her boarding school but it was not working. They had seen right through her act. The person that had been affected most was Troy. His grades were slipping and basketball was no longer his number one priority. Gabriella was. _

_So, needless to say, Sharpay Evans was fed up and angry. How dare they send her best friend to a boarding school? She was mostly angry at two people. Mrs. Montez for sending Gabriella and her mother for suggesting it. So, she came up with the perfect solution to get Gabriella back. _

"_Are you out of your mind, Evans?" Troy demanded the moment he had heard Sharpay's plan. They were all currently at the lunch table and Sharpay had just told them her plan. Sharpay rolled her eyes. Out of all the people at the lunch table, the only one who looked impressed at her idea were Chad and Jason. _

"_Well, do you have a better idea, Bolton?" she snapped. Troy was about to retort but Taylor cut him off. _

"_Wait. So what you're saying is that if we flew to London in your private jet and protest against our parents we can get Gabriella back?" Taylor asked. _

"_Exactly. We'll all go to meet Gabriella in London and tell our parents we're not coming home until Gabriella does. That way, our parents will talk to Maria and Gabriella will be back here in no time," Sharpay explained. _

"_It could work," Kelsi said thoughtfully. _

"_Okay, those in favour of flying to New York, race your hands," Ryan ordered as he raised his. Sharpay's, Kelsi's and Chad's hands were the first ones to shoot up. Seeing his girlfriend raise her hand, Jason followed and so did Zeke after seeing Sharpay's glare. _

"_Okay, so it's six against two I think the six wins," Ryan said. Troy looked unsure while Taylor looked at them like they had all gone mental. _

"_Are you guys mental? There has got to be some other way," Taylor argued. _

"_Like what, Taylor? We've been thanking of stupid ideas since Gabriella left. How about actually trying one?" Jason asked as he shrugged. _

"_We're all going," Troy said suddenly. He looked at Sharpay and asked, "When can we take the jet?" _

"_Anytime we want to."_

"_Good. We're going at ten tonight so everyone gets ready by then. If our parents ask, we're spending the night at Sharpay's and Ryan's house, okay? We're getting Gabriella back here," he nodded firmly, determined to get his best friend back. _

_Right after school, they all got ready for their flight. And soon, they were on the jet and away to London to get their best friend back. When they had reached their destination, Sharpay called for a limo and they all stayed in a hotel all eager to see Gabriella again the next day. _

_The next day, the gang went to the boarding school to see Gabriella. It took them a while but they soon spotted their favourite Latina. _

"_C-Chad?" Gabriella stuttered, recognizing the afro immediately. _

"_Hey Gabster," Chad grinned. Gabriella's eyes traveled across the group and landed on the blue-eyed best friend of hers she had missed so much. _

"_Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed as she ran to her best friend and hugged him. She was wearing her uniform but she looked cute in it. She also looked like she had lost a lot of weight and not gotten enough sleep. _

"_I cannot believe this! What are you guys doing here?" she squealed as she hugged the rest of the gang. _

"_To get you back to Albuquerque," Sharpay answered. Gabriella furrowed her eyebrows as she led them to her dormitory. There, she demanded that they explained everything to her. _

"_You guys. I don't know what to say. I mean, I don't know if I should feel happy that you guys are here or guilty that your parents are probably worrying about you right now. Guys, I want to get back to Albuquerque, really, I do, but this isn't the way," she ranted. _

"_I thought you said you didn't know what to say," Chad mumbled. Gabriella scowled and hit him on his head. _

"_Look. All I'm saying is that what we're doing is not right."_

"_Gabby, I know what you mean but your Mom sending you here isn't right either," Troy tried to convince her gently. _

"_She sent me here as a punishment and I deserved it. I was causing too much trouble. Trouble that she didn't need."_

"_Bullshit, Gabby. She separated all of us!" Sharpay exclaimed. _

"_My dad would be disappointed in me if I let you guys stay here because I know it's not the right thing to do. I'm sorry," she said sadly, regret in her voice, as she looked at the floor and opened her dorm room door, not daring to look at any of her friends faces. Troy shook his head disbelievingly and glared at Gabriella. _

"_You're really going to chase us out of here just because you think your dad would be disappointed in you when we risked everything to come here to get you?" he hissed. Gabriella nodded, still finding the floor interesting. His face hardened as he walked towards the door. _

"_C'mon you guys. We wouldn't want to disappoint Gabriella's special daddy," Troy said sarcastically with no emotion in his voice. Gabriella felt tears well up in her eyes at the coldness in his voice. He pushed past her and walked out. _

"_Please tell me you're going to beg us to stay," Sharpay pleaded. Gabriella just shook her head. _

"_I'm sorry." Was all she said. Sharpay ran out of the room with Zeke following after her. Taylor pushed past her and Jason and Ryan followed suit. Chad hugged her before leaving. _

"_I forgive you," Chad whispered and headed out. Gabriella finally mustered the courage to look at Kelsi. What she saw surprised her the most. Kelsi was looking at her with a hint of admiration in her eyes instead of looking angry like she had expected her to._

"_I'm not angry. I'm proud of you. I know you're confused at what to feel. All I want you to know is that we'll all always be here for you. They're a little angry right now but they'll calm down eventually. Gabriella, friends will go to the ends of the earth for each other and we just proved it. You proved to be a great friend by making what us do what's right, so there's no need for you to feel guilty," Kelsi said as she hugged Gabriella and left the dormitory, leaving Gabriella behind to think… _

_Two weeks later, the gang, minus Chad and Kelsi, were still not over the fact that Gabriella had chased them out of her dorm. Again, Troy had been affected the worst. He didn't know what to feel. He didn't know whether he was supposed to be angry or proud of her for getting them to do the right thing. Then again, she had chased them out of her room in London when they had flown all the way from Albuquerque. _

_Sharpay was still angry at Gabriella for throwing them out. That ungrateful little cockroach. How dare she? Jason was still confused… as usual. Zeke was trying to calm down Sharpay and so was Ryan. Taylor had been surprisingly quiet and Chad, surprisingly, had missed her being naggy. Chad and Kelsi had kept in touch with Gabriella for the first week but communication soon seized the next week when Gabriella did not answer their calls, e-mails or letters. _

_Currently the gang was in Troy's room, hanging out like they always did after school. They were all doing their homework when Kelsi's phone started ringing. _

"_Hello? Hey! OMG! Like, seriously? Okay, I'm at Troy's now. Yeah, we all are. Okay! You still remember where he lives, right? Love you too, cuz. Bye," Kelsi hung up and squealed. The whole gang covered their ears as she squealed again. _

"_Gee, Kels. Why don't you scream a little bit more? I'm sure the people in China didn't hear you," Ryan said sarcastically. _

"_Sorry. I'm just excited. My cousin, Ella, is coming to visit today and she wanted to meet me first so I told her to meet me here. Is that okay?" she asked. Troy shrugged. _

"_You already told her to meet you here." A few minutes later, Kelsi got another phone call from her cousin and raced to the door, grabbing Jason who grabbed Zeke who grabbed Sharpay who grabbed Ryan who grabbed Taylor who grabbed Chad who grabbed Troy. _

"_Wait here," she ordered them as she opened the door and revealed a petite brunette fifteen year old girl. The whole gang froze at the sight of the girl._

"_Hey, Ella!" Kelsi flung her arms around the girl. _

"_Hey, Kelsi," the brunette laughed. _

"_Gabster!" Chad shouted as he engulfed her in a tight hug. _

"_Chadster!" _

"_Somebody pinch me," Zeke mumbled. Gabriella shrugged and pinched him._

"_OUCH! Gabriella! I'm not dreaming! YES!" he screamed as he picked her up and swung her around. Gabriella giggled. _

"_I missed you too, Zeke," she grinned._

"_Didn't you leave?" Jason asked, confused at her sudden appearance. Chad rolled his eyes and hit his friend's head. Gabriella laughed as she hugged Jason. _

"_Well, I'm back now," she said as she let go. _

"_Good because we were falling apart without you," Jason told her. _

"_How did you get here? It's not even the holidays yet! You're not supposed to be here!" Ryan exclaimed. _

"_I came here by American Airlines?" Gabriella asked rather than said. Ryan just shrugged, laughed it off and hugged her. _

"_We missed you so much," he said. Gabriella just smiled softly and let go. She then turned to the three people she knew would have a harder time forgiving her than the rest. She just looked at them for a moment before Troy had had enough and ran up to his room, slamming the door behind him. Gabriella sighed and tried her best to keep the tears from falling down her face. Sensing her friend's sadness, Taylor softened up and hugged Gabriella. _

"_He'll come around. You'll see." Taylor said. Gabriella just broke down and sobbed as she felt another pair of arms around her. _

"_It'll be fine, Ella. Like Taylor said, he'll come around," Sharpay comforted her Latina friend. _

"_WHAT TEAM?" Chad shouted._

"_WILDCATS!" Everyone shouted back, being used to their regular cheer. _

"_WHAT TEAM?"_

"_WILDCATS!"_

"_WILDCATS?" _

"_ALL FOR ONE!"_

_Gabriella laughed as her friends all crowded around her. She had amazing friends and she wouldn't have had it any other way. _

_**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**_

"_I cannot believe I'm doing this," Gabriella muttered as she climbed the tree that led to Troy's bedroom. She landed on his balcony. Like Gabriella's room, Troy's room had a balcony in it. Unlike Gabriella's balcony, the place was messy as she stepped on the concrete. Troy was still too lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice her. He was throwing his basketball up and down. __**(A/N: Think of the scene in HSM 2 when Troy has a conversation with his father in his bedroom about not knowing who he was anymore.)**_

_Gabriella knocked on the balcony door. Shocked by the sudden noise, Troy fell off the bed as he looked at Gabriella as though she were some alien from outer space. He got up and walked to open the door to let her in. _

"_What are you doing here?" he asked, so shocked that all coldness from his voice was gone. _

"_Well, I wanted to apologize to my best friend and explain to him that I'm here to stay until I graduate from high school. I also want to tell him that my mother transferred me back here because she knew how my move was affecting you guys and she heard about how you guys took the private jet to London. She was touched and she was also relieved. She said that I did the right thing by not making you guys stay and she transferred me back here as my reward," she said the paragraph, only stopping in the middle of it. Troy blinked at her. _

"_So, you're here to stay? For good?" _

"_Yep."_

"_And going to London did get you back here?"_

"_Yeah. If you guys hadn't come, I think I'd still be staring at a picture of all of us right now," Gabriella admitted. _

"_Well, it's good to have you back," Troy said as he extended his hand for her to shake it. Gabriella stared at him, blinked, shrugged and finally, exploded. _

"_That's all I get? A bloody handshake? I climbed up that really tall tree, scraped my knees, ruined my new blouse and all I get is a handshake for you? I cannot believe you!" she exclaimed as she hit his head. Troy chuckled and wrapped his arms around his best friend he missed so much. _

"_Yep, you're definitely back," Troy chuckled as he held her closer, not wanting to let her go. _

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Aww… That was so cute," Alana cooed. Gabriella blushed while Troy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi had softened up at the memory while the guys were goofing around. By goofing around, I meant that Chad and Jason were hand wrestling and Zeke was the referee. They had heard the story before, heck they were the characters in it, so they weren't really paying attention to Troy. Ryan was shaking his head at his friend's childishness.

"They're great kids, aren't they," Ryan asked, swelling with pride. Everyone nodded, including Chad and Jason who had stopped their match. Just as Kelsi was about to say something, the phone rang. The gang looked at each other as the phone continued ringing.

**A/N: Review!**


	8. Finally Together

**A/N: Hey guys! So, I'm really sorry I haven't been able to update in a long time but I've been having writer's block. No worries, though. I have everything planned out. I really hope you guys are enjoying this story so far because I am having fun writing it. Anyways, I'm sure you guys haven't opened this chapter to read me ramble… so enjoy!**

_Previously… _

_Dear Mom and Troy,_

_We, your four amazing children, Andrea, Faith, Brad and Paris, have probably flown to New York by now with the help of Blake's private jet. Before you call Blake, Mom, I want you to know that he is not in fault here. We made him promise not to tell you or anyone else and you know how Blake keeps his promises. Anyway, we're fine. Clay and Tyler insisted on coming with us. Actually, Tyler insisted but Clay wanted to stay so tell Aunt Taylor Clay was against it. Mom, you know Paris is crazy over David and he's like a brother to all of us. There's no way we're going to let him go through the funeral alone. He needs to know that we'll be there for him. Troy, you told us that true friends will go to the ends of the earth for each other and that's exactly what we're doing. You guys know that you would have done the exact same thing for any of our uncles or aunts. _

_We love you guys and don't worry. We're safe. We'll be calling you guys soon. And we won't complain if you ground us till we're 30 because we know we deserve it. We know the consequences but we're still going to do this no matter what. David has always been a part of our family and he always will be. And families will do anything for each other. _

_Love,_

_Faith, Andrea, Brad and Paris_

_P.S. McKenzie's with us._

_**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**_

"_They're great kids, aren't they," Ryan asked, swelling with pride. Everyone nodded, including Chad and Jason who had stopped their match. Just as Kelsi was about to say something, the phone rang. The gang looked at each other as the phone continued ringing. _

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"David!" Paris exclaimed as she hugged the boy she had loved since first grade. David's eyes widened as Paris wrapped her arms around him and he did the same to her. Tears welled up in both their eyes as they realized how lost and unhappy they were without each other.

"I missed you," she whispered as she pulled away from him and a stray tear slid through her cheek. David wiped it away and smiled sadly at her.

"I missed you too," he said as he hugged her again and Paris hugged him tighter, afraid that they were going to be separated again. Behind them, Mikayla, Savannah, Andrea and Faith were awing silently. McKenzie and Brad were both beaming, happy that their two best friends were finally together again. Alan, Tyler, Brandon and Clay, for once, were smiling instead of making fun of them.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"You think I should call them now?" Blake Landon asked his wife as he peeked at the teenagers.

"Blake, you should have called them yesterday. What did Paris threaten you with anyway?" Sarah Landon asked her husband. She had been asking him that question since he had refused to call Gabriella and she wanted to know what could possibly scare him so badly.

"I'm not gonna fall for that, honey," Blake said as he rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. With one final look at his wife and teenagers, he dialed Gabriella's house number in Albuquerque and put the phone on speaker. After three rings, the phone was finally picked up.

"H-Hello?" the voice stammered. It was obviously Gabriella.

"G-Gabby? It's Blake."

"BLAKE THEODORE LANDON!" Gabriella screamed into the phone. Blake winced at her yelling as Sarah laughed at her husband's reaction. Blake held the phone closer to his ear but the people on the other side were too busy fighting. He rolled his eyes and waited patiently.

_In Albuquerque…_

"Blake's on the phone? Let me talk to him!" Taylor said as she attempted to get the phone out of Gabriella's hand. Gabriella snatched it away but it was soon taken from Sharpay. Just as she was about to put the phone to her ear, Alana grabbed it from her. Troy took the phone from Alana and was about to hand it over to Gabriella when Ryan stopped him. Ryan was about to give the phone back to his wife when Zeke grabbed the phone from him. Chad, Jason and Kelsi looked at each other and rolled their eyes at their friends' foolishness.

"GUYS!" Kelsi screamed. The six of them stopped passing the phone around and looked at her.

"There's such a thing as a speaker," Chad said slowly as Jason looked at his friends with amusement. The others smiled sheepishly and Gabriella put the phone on speaker.

"Okay, Blake. You're on speaker," Gabriella said.

"Took you guys long enough. Anyway, they're all safe and sound. That's all that matters, right?" Blake asked, hoping that the conversation would end soon.

"No, that is **not** all that matters. What matters is that our kids were traveling to New York and you didn't even tell us. How could you?" Gabriella asked, clearly disappointed.

"Gabriella, you don't understand. She was going to _cry_," Blake emphasized on the last word.

"She was going to cry? That's your pathetic excuse, Landon?" Kelsi barked. Sharpay giggled and the others looked at her questioningly.

"What? It's funny when you guys are angry," she defended herself. Taylor just rolled her eyes.

"Blake, where are all of them now?" she asked.

"They're at my house. David has been living here since… well, you know," Blake finished uncomfortably. Silence followed soon after.

"Blake?"

"Yeah, Troy?"

"You think you can send your private jet back here again?"

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"It's Gabriella! Paris, you answer it!" Andrea exclaimed as she tossed her phone to her younger sister. The younger girl's eyes widened as she shook her head and passed the phone to Faith who tossed the phone to Brad as if the phone would have burnt her hand.

"Why me?" Brad groaned.

"Oh, stop being a fag and act like a man for once." Brad glared at his older sister as he answered the phone.

"Mom, it was totally Paris's idea! I swear, I tried to –"

"_Brad? Relax, it's Troy."_ Brad let out a sigh of relief and gave a thumb up to his sisters.

"Oh, thank god. Are the other adults mad?"

"_Well, they were but Chad and I managed to calm them down."_

"We really are sorry, Troy, but we had to do it. David needs us now and –"

"_We know, Brad. And we understand. Well, I need you to put me on speaker because I need to speak to everyone, okay?" _

"Okay." Brad did as he was told as every single one of them, including David, gathered around him.

"You're on speaker, Dad," Andrea said.

"_Okay, guys, here's the plan. Jason and Kelsi are going to come for all of you. And when I mean all of you, that includes you too, David. You guys are going to be under Blake's and Sarah's supervision for the time being. You'll be staying in New York until tomorrow, okay?" _

"Got it."

"Ditto."

"Okay."

"Well, better than nothing."

"At least we get to miss school."

Little did the teenagers know the surprise their parents had for them…

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Hey, you okay?" Paris asked as she sat beside David on his bed and held his hand.

"It's my fault," he whispered.

"What?"

"It's my fault they're gone," he croaked as tears welled up in his eyes and he looked at the sky.

"David, it's not – "

"Yes, it is! I told them I hated them and they were probably thinking about that when they were in the car. They didn't deserve to die, Rissy! I should have been in that car! I should have died! Not them. They didn't deserve it! It should've been me," he screamed as he got up from the bed and started pacing. Paris shook her head as her own tears threatened to spill.

"Don't say that. Please don't say that," Paris begged him. David looked at her and shook his head.

"It's true. I should have died instead of my grandparents. I should've died with my parents in that car crash when I was one but I didn't."

"Maybe because you're meant to do great stuff. Maybe because fate has a surprise for you. Maybe it's the fact that you mean the world to all of us and we don't know what we'd do without you," Paris said, hoping she was getting through to him.

"You guys have been fine without me."

"Oh, yeah. We had fun without you, alright. Paris was always crying, McKenzie was always worried about you and I missed my best friend. We were having the time of our lives without you." Brad said sarcastically as he entered the room with McKenzie and glared at David as he stood in front of him. McKenzie sat on the bed beside Paris.

"How long have you guys been listening to us?" David asked, glaring back stubbornly at Brad.

"Long enough."

"David, no matter what you think, you're our best friend and soon, you're going to be my brother. Please, don't ever wish that you were dead," Kenz pleaded. David just looked away from them and walked out of the room, leaving his friends feeling dejected.

**A/N: Before I end this chapter (okay, it's already ended but I really want to say this), I would like to thank Stephanie (PeterPanTinkerBell27) for giving me great advice… Thank you, Stephanie!**


	9. Surprise!

"I hate flying," Chad mumbled. Taylor rolled her eyes at her husband and looked over at Jason and Kelsi. Jason was sleeping soundly with his mouth hanging open while Kelsi looked deep in thought.

"Hello! Earth to Kelsi!" Taylor waved her hand in front of her friends' face. Kelsi snapped out of her daze and looked questioningly at the African- American woman.

"You want something, Taylor?"

"You okay?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, I'm just nervous. I mean, after we land, I'm going to be raising another child. It's amazing but scary at the same time."

"You'll do fine, Kels," Taylor tried assuring the petite brunette. Kelsi smiled thankfully.

"Thanks, Taylor. But this fear... It just doesn't go away. Heck, the fear I felt when I first found out I was pregnant with McKenzie is still here."

"I know what you mean. Sometimes I wonder if Chad and I are raising Clay and Tyler right. But then I look at them and I know that we are. I mean, they're good boys," Taylor smiled as she held Chad's hand. Kelsi chuckled.

"Oh, yeah. Tyler once broke your most expensive vase and didn't tell you for two weeks. They colored Chad's hair when they were twelve and fourteen and they flew across the country without telling you. You raised them well," she said sarcastically. To anyone else, they would have been insulted but Chad and Taylor just rolled their eyes, having been used to her sarcasm since high school.

"In our defense, Clay thought it would be better if Tyler hid the broken pieces so he wouldn't get punished."

"And they were supposed to be coloring Ryan's hair because it was his birthday."

"And last but not least, they flew across the country to help out a friend. And by the way, your daughter followed," Chad reminded her. Kelsi sighed and leaned back.

"She is so grounded," she muttered.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Blake?"

"Yes, Paris?"

"All of them are coming here, aren't they?"

"All of who?"

"All of our parents!"

"W-What? What – What makes you think that? I mean, don't you think they have better things to do? They could be cleaning the house, ironing the clothes, doing the laundry, grading papers… What – What makes you think they'll fly all the way here?"

"Oh nothing. I just considered the fact that they all would want to make sure we're all safe and your rambling and stuttering kinda just gave it away."

"You know what, kiddo?"

"What?"

"You know me too well."

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"LAND!" Chad exclaimed the moment he stepped out of the jet and fell to the ground. Troy laughed and hit his friend on the head. Gabriella, Zeke and Sharpay followed his actions, choosing to ignore the glare their afro- headed friend was shooting at them. Taylor laughed at her friends and husbands' antics and gave Chad a peck on his cheek. Ryan, Alana, Kelsi and Jason just shook their heads and walked forward but with smirks evident on their faces.

They were all in the middle of getting their luggage when they heard Gabriella squeal.

"Paris!" Paris giggled as she ran to her mother and hugged her.

"I missed you, Mom," she whispered as they let go. Gabriella smiled softly.

"I missed you too, honey. Although, you are still grounded when you get home," Gabriella frowned. Troy walked up to them and nodded in agreement at Gabriella's statement. Paris smiled sadly.

"I know, but I'm not sorry," she told her parents. Troy hugged her.

"We know, Paris, we know," he pulled back and looked at her in the eyes before continuing, "And we're proud of you. Yes, we would have preferred it if you guys talked to us but we know we would've done the same thing if we were you guys. Heck, we _did_ do the same thing. Of course, there will be consequences."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Paris smiled earnestly.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"Hey, Clay?"

"Yeah, Drea? You okay?" Clay asked his best friend, his facial expression softening when he saw her.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I shouldn't have blackmailed you, it was wrong and – "

"It's okay."

"No! It's not! I feel like I'm taking advantage of you and – Why are you laughing? Stop laughing! This is not funny!" she shrieked as Clay tried his hardest to stifle his laughter. It was a useless attempt as he burst out laughing.

"Andy, do you seriously think I would've let you gone without me? You're my best friend and as cheesy and cliché as this sounds right now, I'm always here for you. Wherever you need me, whenever you need me. I'll stop you from doing stupid things but if I can't stop you, then I'll join you," he smiled warmly at his best friend. Andrea had tears in her eyes, touched at her best friends' speech.

"Thanks, Clay, for everything. You're my best friend," Andrea said through her tears as she hugged him.

_I want to be more than your best friend_, he thought to himself as he hugged her tighter.

"Hey, what's going on here?" a familiar voice interrupted them. Andrea's eyes widened and she spun around.

"Daddy! Gabriella!" she squealed and hugged Troy and Gabriella. They chuckled while Clay made faces as he was being kissed by his mother. Chad chuckled at his son's reaction and patted him on the back.

"You are in so much trouble," he smirked as Clay smiled sheepishly and turned to the other parents, Blake and Paris.

"May I?"

"Go ahead. Paris already knows, though," Troy informed him. Clay shrugged.

"GUYS! BLAKE, PARIS, ANDY AND I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU! YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THEM!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Andrea and Paris giggled while the parents hid behind the big sofas in the living room.

"This better be good, Clay. The last time you had a 'surprise' for us, it involved me and Alan being locked in a broom closet for twelve hours," Jamie Sullivan-Landon, Blake's step-daughter, reminded him as the whole gang walked into the room and sat down on the sofas.

"Yeah, I still don't get why you did that, by the way," Alan said and sipped some orange juice from the glass he was holding as the others rolled their eyes, knowing the perfect reason for Clay's actions.

"Hey, was it my fault that I had had enough of you two flirting and wanted you two to get together?" he asked, annoyed that his plan had not worked. Alan and Jamie blushed as he said that and an awkward silence filled the room.

"Yep, he's definitely your son, Chad," Taylor whispered as she rolled her eyes behind the couch. Chad looked confusedly at her.

"What wrong with that?" he whispered back. On the couch, Jamie was about to look behind the couch as she thought she was hearing voices. Seeing his friend about to look back, Clay panicked.

"Jamie! That – That's a nice ring you're wearing. Who got it for you?" he stuttered and inwardly sighed with relief as she quickly turned around, not seeing the parents.

"Someone special," she answered softly and played with it as Alan spit out the orange juice. Jamie patted his back.

"Someone special?" he choked out.

"Yeah, his name's George Sommerville." Hearing the name, Blake looked at his step-daughter skeptically and she smiled at him sheepishly. That did not go unnoticed by Paris but she just let it be. She would interrogate them later.

"Clay, is there any other reason we're here for because I really don't want to spend the whole day and watch Shane get angry with Mitchie for not telling him," Brandon said, pointing to the TV that was currently playing Camp Rock.

"Yeah, I kinda don't get that part. I mean, she didn't lie to him. She lied to Tess not him. He just assumed that her mother was famous in China," Chad chose the moment to get up and sat beside the blonde teenager while the others looked at him in shock. Brandon, still not realizing what was going on, replied to Chad.

"I know! Although, she shouldn't have lied in the fir – Oh my god!" he shrieked, finally realizing who he was talking to. Chad chuckled as the other parents emerged from their hiding place.

"MOM!"

"DAD!"

"Well, at least we're all one happy family again," Blake smiled and put his arm around his wife who had just entered the room. Sarah smiled sadly at him and led him out of the living room, telling him everything about the phone conversation she just had. David noticed their absence, being the only teenager in the room who was not being swarmed with kisses, and frowned. What was wrong now?

Kelsi walked over to David, determined to love him as her son now that he was going to be her responsibility. She cupped her hands to his face as he looked at her with eyes filled with so much sadness.

"How are you?" she asked softly. Even before moving to Albuquerque, they had been close.

"I've been better," he answered, smiling sadly. Kelsi's heart broke at his hurt voice and she hugged him. Finally feeling a mothers' love he so desperately needed, David broke down in sobs right there and then. All movement in the room stopped as they watched David crying. Paris was about to head over to him but Gabriella stopped her and shook her head, silently telling her daughter that David needed time alone with Kelsi and maybe even Jason and McKenzie.

Signaling everyone with his head, Troy headed out of the room. The rest of them except the Cross family got out of the room, giving them some privacy.

"It's going to be okay," Jason whispered as he hugged his adopted son and his wife, McKenzie joining in soon after.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

That night, everyone, except Sarah and Blake, was gathered in the living room to watch some TV. They had an important meeting to attend to. It was supposed to be a fun night but it was turning out to be awkward and boring. Faith had suggested that they all spend time together and Mikayla had picked out the movie.

Finally having enough with the silence, Kelsi walked out the room. Everyone's head turned to her as she left. _That_ was how bored they were. She arrived minutes later with a few pieces of paper in her hands and sat by the piano. Curious as to what she was doing, everyone gathered around the piano. Kelsi put the music sheet in the middle of the piano where everyone could see it. The former Wildcats glanced knowingly at her while the juniors looked confused.

"It's a good thing all of you were forced to do the musical," she said to them.

"Let's give them a try, shall we?" Gabriella asked the adults. They just nodded.

"Faith and Brandon, you guys can start first."

"Aunt Shar, you know I don't sing. Dad does, not me."

"And neither do I."

"You two did in the jet."

"That was different, Kenz. That was for fun."

"And the difference between then and now is…?"

"…"

"…"

"Yeah, c'mon! Just sing it! We'll join in soon!" Alan encouraged them.

Kelsi started playing the piano as she started singing the first few lines of the song, giving them a head start. **(A/N: Hey, it's a musical, ain't it?)**

**[Kelsi] **

**Na na na na **

**Na na na na yeah **

**You are the music in me **

**You know the words **

**Once upon a time **

**Make you listen? **

**There's a reason. **

Finally feeling confident, Faith took one final look at Brandon and started singing.

**[Kelsi & Faith] **

**When you dream there's a chance you'll find **

**A little laughter **

**Or happy ever after **

Looking at the music sheet, Brandon joined in, occasionally stealing glances at the girl he knew he was falling for.

**[Brandon & Faith] **

**yeah harmony to the melody **

**It's echoing inside my head **

**[Faith] **

**A single voice (Brandon: Single voice) **

**Above the noise **

**[Brandon & Faith] **

**And like a common thread **

**[Brandon] **

**Hmm, you're pulling me **

**[Faith] **

**When I hear my favorite song **

**I know that we belong **

**[Brandon & Faith] **

**Oh, you are the music in me **

**Yeah it's living in all of us **

**[Faith] **

**And it's brought us here because **

**[Brandon & Faith] **

**Because you are the music in me **

**Na na na na (Ohh) **

**Na na na na na **

**Yeah yeah yeah **

**(Na na na na) **

**You are the music in me **

Kelsi looked over at Jamie. Taking it as her cue to join in, Jamie joined in, having fun in a long time.

**[Jamie] **

**It's like I knew you before we met (Before we met) **

**Can't explain it (Ohh ohh) **

**There's no name for it (No name for it) **

Alan grinned as he sang the words to the verse he was singing, meaning every single word.

**[Alan & Jamie] **

**I'm saying words I never said **

**[Alan] **

**And it was easy (So easy) **

**Because you see the real me (I see) **

Feeling his parents look at him, Clay began singing his lines, amazed that he was actually singing. He looked at Andrea, the only girl in the world he would travel across the country for.

**[Clay & Andrea] **

**As I am, you understand **

**And that's more than I've ever known **

Andrea was surprised. She was not surprised that her best friend had a great voice. She had known that a long time ago. She was actually surprised that he would sing with her.

**[Andrea] **

**To hear your voice (Hear your voice) **

**Above the noise (Ohh ohh) **

**[Clay & Andrea] **

**And know I'm not alone **

**[Andrea] **

**Oh you're singing to me (Ohh yeah) **

Feeling more united than they had felt in a long time, the seventeen and eighteen year olds continued singing.

**[Faith, Brandon, Andrea, Clay, Jamie & Alan] **

**When I hear my favorite song **

**I know that we belong (Yeah ohh) **

**You are the music in me **

**It's living in all of us **

**And it's brought us here because **

**You are the music in me **

Feeling more alive and content than he had been in a few days, David smiled genuinely, his smile reaching his eyes. This was his family. They were going to take care of him and he was going to be thankful and enjoy every second of it. Especially with Paris.

**[David & Paris]**

**Together we're gonna sing (Yeah) **

**We got the power to sing what we feel (What we feel) **

**[David] **

**Connected and real **

Paris sang the next line, half hoping and half not hoping that David would see right through her and know how she felt about him.

**[Paris] **

**Can't keep it all inside (Ohh) **

Being the only ones without a pair, Tyler, Mikayla and Savannah of them sang for fun.

**[Tyler, Mikayla & Savannah] **

**Na na na na (Ohh yeah) **

**Na na na na na (Ohh yeah) **

**Yeah yeah yeah (Na na na na) **

Finally deciding it was their turn to join in, Brad and McKenzie held each others' hand as they sang the chorus. Their actions, of course, went unnoticed by almost everyone except one particular brunette that looked like Blake.

**[Brad & McKenzie] **

**You are the music in me (In me) **

**[Brad & McKenzie] **

**Na na na na (Ohh yeah) **

**Na na na na na (Ohh yeah) **

**Na na na na **

**You are the music in me **

**When I hear my favorite song (Favorite song) **

**I know that we belong (We belong) **

**You are the music in me **

Feeling like one big family again, the adults joined in, each of them in their own world.

**[Everyone] **

**Yeah it's living in all of us **

**It's brought us here because (Here because) **

**You are the music in me **

**Na na na na (Ohh yeah) **

**Na na na na (Ohh yeah) **

**Na na na na **

**[Faith & Brandon]**

**You are the music in me (Yeah)**

Everyone clapped as the song came to an end and laughter filled the room. David looked around at the new family he had gained. Seeing their happy faces, he knew they would always be there for him when he needed them. He knew they would always be beside him. He smiled at his best friend beside him. Paris would always be by his side and he would be by hers. It just worked that way. In Kelsi's words, she was the music in him. It was just too bad she didn't know she had that effect on him.

**A/N: OMG! OMG! I'm so happy! My exams are finally over ad I can write all I want! Rest assured you guys this story is making progress. **

**P.S. **

**Review! **


	10. Discussing Melinda

_Previously…_

_Everyone clapped as the song came to an end and laughter filled the room. David looked around at the new family he had gained. Seeing their happy faces, he knew they would always be there for him when he needed them. He knew they would always be beside him. He smiled at his best friend beside him. Paris would always be by his side and he would be by hers. It just worked that way. In Kelsi's words, she was the music in him. It was just too bad she didn't know she had that effect on him. _

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

By the time the Jamesons' funeral was over, there wasn't a dry eye in the Landon household. Carol and Armen Jameson had been two of the kindest people on Earth. They always had the best advice to give to Gabriella, Kelsi, Zeke, Jason or their children when they were alive. They were always so friendly, so giving, and so kind.

Troy, Chad, Taylor, Ryan, Sharpay, Alana and their children may not have known the Jamesons as well as the others, but they certainly knew that this was going to be hard for all of them. They had gotten to know the Jamesons when Gabriella, Kelsi, Zeke, Jason and their children were still living in New York. The Jamesons had always welcomed them with such warmth and hospitality that it was hard to believe that they were gone.

David had locked himself in his current bedroom and nothing anybody said or did could get him out. Kelsi sighed as she knocked on the door the third time that night with Jason by her side. They had all tried getting him out of the room but to no avail.

Troy and Chad had tried bribing David to get out of the room but wished they hadn't for they had gotten two smacks on their heads when their wives and Jelsi found out. Brandon, Alan, Savannah, Faith, Mikayla, Andrea, Jamie and Clay had all asked him to join them in going out to eat but he had just replied he was not hungry. Zeke had tried making him his famous cookies but it hadn't worked. Sharpay, Alana and Ryan had simply been watching the front gate so that they were sure that David would not do anything stupid.

Paris, Brad and McKenzie had just stood outside the room, watching sadly as each of their family members tried getting David out of the room. The trio knew they were all wasting their time but they couldn't help but hope that one of their parents of friends would be able to get him out. Paris frowned. If only they could get David out of the damn room…

Brad's eyes widened as he saw the all too familiar look on his sister's face. Her frown had turned into a smirk, her eyes had lightened up and her eyebrows were raised. The male Gomez twin inwardly groaned. This could not be good.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

"They're up to something," Gabriella mumbled to her husband as he handed her a cup of coffee. Troy raised his eyebrow at her. Gabriella sighed. "Paris, Brad and Kenzie are up to something. They've been too quiet for the past two hours. That's not like them."

"Brie, they're not up to anything. Relax," Troy kissed her cheek in an attempt to calm her down. Beside them, Alan rolled her eyes.

"Now where had I heard that before?" she asked pointedly, glaring at her husband. Troy and Gabriella looked at Ryan, who was smiling sheepishly at his wife.

"Hey! How was I supposed to know they'd fly to New York? I'm no psychic, babe," he defended himself. Troyella laughed as Alana smacked him over his head.

"If we can't handle two teenagers, I wonder how we're going to raise another," she muttered. Beside her, Gabriella and Troy frowned when they heard her mutter and Ryan smiled sadly at Alana, silently telling her he was sorry for the billionth time.

"I'm sorry? Another? Are you pregnant?" Gabriella asked, her frown quickly turning into a wide smile. Beside her, Troy sat up and looked Ryan. Surely, the blonde Evans twin would have said something to him. They had gotten close over the years and Troy knew how much Ryan had always wanted another child after Brandon. Surely, the male Evans twin would have said something.

It was amazing what the word 'pregnant' could do. At the mention of the word, Alana felt all heads turn to the couch. Sharpay had dropped her glass, Zeke and Jason were staring at her with wide eyes, Kelsi had stopped playing the piano and Blake, Sarah, Chad and Taylor stopped talking. Beside her, Alana felt her husband stiffen.

"Maybe it's time to tell them," Alana said softly as she studied Ryan's face. Slowly, he nodded his head and stood up. Ryan offered his hand and Alana gladly accepted it, enjoying the warmness of his hand.

"You guys might want to sit down," he started, as he looked at each of their faces, not missing the betrayed look on his twin's face. Ryan inwardly winced. Sharpay looked so hurt and Ryan had never felt so guilty. The two of them were best friends; they looked out for each other and told each other their secrets. Sharpay had always been the first one to know and now, Ryan could tell it hurt her that she would be finding out with everyone else.

"Umm… Sarah, Blake, could you guys get the teens? Including David, if you can get him out of the room."

Sarah and Blake nodded as they rushed out of the room to get the teenagers.

Ryan felt Alana squeeze his hand and gave her a small smile. He cleared his throat before looking at his friends. Gabriella, Troy, Taylor and Chad were on the couch. Sharpay and Zeke were on the love seat and Jason and Kelsi were at the piano. The high school friends sat in silence as they waited patiently for the teenagers. A few minutes later, each one of them, and yes, that included David, were all in the living room. The teenagers, Blake and Sarah were on the floor. Alana motioned for her two sons to join her.

Brandon and Alan looked puzzled as they walked to their mother. As silently as she could, she whispered to them, "We're telling them about Melinda." At that statement, Brandon's eyes widened and Alan stiffened. They nodded mutely and turned to the rest.

"Well, umm… I don't really know how to say this so I'm just going to blurt it out. I'm going to have a daughter," Ryan blurted out, studying as each of their faces, except Sharpay's, turned from shocked to happiness. Sharpay's just remained at shocked.

"Congratulations!"

"That's great!"

"We're going to spoil her rotten!"

"Wow."

"How do you know it'll be a her? It could be a guy, Andrea!"

"He just said he was going to have a daughter, Clay!"

"How far along are you?" Gabriella asked, immediately putting an end to Clay and Andrea's argument and everyone diverted their attention back to the couple. Ryan took a deep breath and looked pleadingly at his wife. Alana nodded.

"I'm not pregnant."

This time, Ryan watched as their happy faces turned to confused ones.

"I'm not the only one who's confused, right?" Jason asked, scratching his head. Kelsi shook her head at her husband.

"No, you're not. I'm confused too," she said before turning to Alana and Ryan. "I don't get it. You guys are going to have a daughter but you're not pregnant? How is that even possible?"

"Yeah, I mean, for a person to be born, the woman has to be, like, pregnant, right?" Clay shifted uncomfortably. Brandon and Alan snickered at the awkward expression on his face and Andrea smacked her palm to her forehead.

On the couch, Taylor muttered, "Yeah. He definitely got those blur genes from you, Chad." Hearing her, Chad pouted and Troy and Gabriella laughed. On the floor, Tyler rolled his eyes at his brother's stupidity before speaking up.

"Unless the baby isn't yours, Aunt Lana?"

"What?" all the girls, except Alana who remained quiet, asked.

"Think about it. Uncle Ryan's going to have a daughter but Aunt Lana's not pregnant. And anyway, even if she is pregnant, we wouldn't know the sex of the baby yet because it'll be too soon to tell. I mean, Aunt Lana, you don't really have a bump yet. "

A deafening silence filled the room as the people outside the Evans family started to realize what was going on. Sharpay let out a gasp as she stared wide-eyed at her brother. On the couch, Taylor turned to Chad.

"Now, those genius genes are definitely from me."

"So, this daughter of yours… When did you find out about her?" Troy asked, hoping to break the tensed silence that was quickly engulfing the room.

"We found out two days ago," Alan replied, deciding to help his parents since they looked so uncomfortable. Ryan looked ashamed of himself and his mother looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Sharpay looked at her brother, her eyes red as she tried her best not to lose her temper in front of her friends, and more importantly, her child and the teenagers she considered her own. Her friends had seen the worst of her in high school so they wouldn't be as frightened as the kids would be. Losing her temper in front of her kids was something Sharpay Evans did NOT want to do.

"You found out two days ago and you didn't tell me?" she gritted her teeth as she spoke. Ryan inwardly shuddered before reluctantly nodding his head. Beside him, he felt Alana move closer to him, as if to defend him if it were necessary.

"I'll deal with you later," Sharpay glared at him before smiling at Alana and the boys. "So, what's the name of my new niece?"

"Melinda Elizabeth Gordon Evans," Brandon replied.

"Gordon Evans? Her mother couldn't have been Patricia Gordon, could it?" Troy asked, as he looked pointedly at Ryan. Ryan shrugged. Truth was, he hadn't really been thinking much about Melinda. He had been so focused on getting his two sons back, he had not really had the time to think about his daughter.

"Wait a minute. Patricia Gordon. As in _the_ Patricia Gordon?" Alana asked, turning to her husband and put her hands on her hips. Ryan smiled sheepishly. Behind him, Brandon and Alan exchanged confused glances.

"Who's Patricia Gordon?" Gabriella asked, beating Alan to ask the question. Chad and Sharpay gasped and Taylor's eyes widened as they finally realized who Alana, Ryan and Troy were talking about.

"Wait a minute. Patricia Gordon? As in the Patricia Gordon you were about to marry but she broke up with you the day you wanted to propose to her? The one whom broke your heart into tiny little pieces?" Chad asked, shocked at the new piece of information as Ryan just nodded miserably. His friends were not helping. Alana was getting redder and redder in the face each second!

"You mean to tell me that your daughter is the child of the woman you almost married?" Alana gasped and glared at Ryan. Ryan glared at his best friends and nodded at her. "Well, congratulations, Mr. Evans. Looks like you've earned yourself a new bed in the house. The couch!" Alana narrowed her eyes at him and stormed up the stairs and into the room she and Ryan were supposed to stay in.

Ryan angrily stormed to Chad and hit him on his head.

"OW! What was that for?"

"For being an idiot and bringing up Patty! You know Alana feels insecure when my past relationships are concerned!"

"Well, it's not my fault you had a secret daughter!"

Ryan just shook his head and ran after his wife. He had to comfort her and tell her he loved her and only her. And besides, he did not like sleeping on the couch. Not one bit.

**A/N: Review! Sorry for the long wait!**


	11. Guilt Trip

Melinda Gordon sniffled as she thought about how drastic her life had changed since her mother died. True, her mother may not have been the best mother around but Patricia Gordon had been a single mother. People could at least cut her some slack. Melinda could almost hear the neighbors talking.

"_She starved her own child."_

"_She sold herself to feed herself and her daughter."_

"_Poor kid. Her father's somewhere far away and her mother wanted nothing to do with her. And the poor child's only fifteen." _

Melinda covered her ears with her pillow as the imaginary voices entered her mind. She was currently living in an orphanage and she hated it there. Everyone had been nothing but nice to her but all she wanted was to get out of there. She didn't belong anywhere. Patricia had once told her that she had been a mistake and that she should have killed her when she had the chance to.

"_You little bitch! I don't even know why I kept you. Your son of a bitch of a father left me when I was pregnant with you. I could have aborted you, you know? I could have gone ahead with life and just bloody killed you but I didn't. You wanna know why? Because I thought that your father would come back to me but you just turned out to be a burden! Now get out of my sight!"_

Of course, her mother had been drunk but her words had hurt Melinda more than anything. Her mother had apologized the next day and had told her that she hadn't meant it but Melinda knew better. A drunkard usually reveals the truth and Melinda knew from the look on her mother's face that she had meant every single word. That she wished that Melinda had never been born.

It was days like that that Melinda wished she had a real family that could actually take care of her. She would imagine having a mother who actually loved her and took her out shopping and a father who would teach her how to ride a bike. She would imagine having two brothers. One who was very protective of her and the other who was calm and collected. She wished for the perfect family and she never got it.

She only found out about her father when she was twelve and her whole respect for the man left her. That was the man who had left her mother when he knew that she was pregnant. That was the man who made her mother hate her. That was the man she hated. Her mother had told her everything.

"_I sent him a letter but he never wrote back. I told him everything about you, Melinda. He just didn't give a damn."_

And now, she was going to have to live with him. She swore on her mother that Ryan Evans was going to pay. He was going to pay for hurting her mother like he did and he was going to pay for leaving her.

**High School Musical – Everyday of Our Lives**

Sharpay paced back and forth in her room as she thought about what Ryan had said. So, the bitch did have a daughter. Sharpay paced faster and faster. This was all her fault. The young child had grown up without her father because of her.

How she wished she could turn back time. Then, she wouldn't have taken the letter. She would have asked Ryan to take custody of the child. Patricia Gordon had proved that she was unfit to be a mother or to even hold a child when she had handled Savannah and Brandon.

Patricia Gordon. That name made Sharpay's blood boil. What Ryan had seen in that slut in the first place, Sharpay would never know. She was totally fake with oversized boobs and fake lips. Sharpay still couldn't believe that Ryan almost married her.

But now, more pressing matters were at hand. Sharpay had stopped the letter that Patricia had sent for Ryan. What had she done? Well, she definitely knew that the child hated Ryan. Naturally, Melinda would have heard about the letter and how Patricia had not gotten a response back. At that time, it had seemed right to prevent Ryan from seeing the letter.

And now, it seemed so wrong. Because of her, Melinda had been brought up by a blonde bimbo with no motherly instincts at all. And Sharpay Evans hated herself for doing that.

**A/N: Review!**


	12. Problems in the Households

**A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in a long while! Please forgive me! I promise to never do it again! **

"What if she doesn't like me?"

Alana rolled her eyes for what she felt was the millionth time that day as her husband paced back and forth in front of her. Beside her, Brandon and Alan were playing a game of thumb war after getting bored of watching their father panic.

"Dad, we've talked about this. She is not going to like you. You've been AWOL from her life since she was born."

Ryan stopped pacing and not for the first time, felt like throwing something hard at his son.

"Brandon?"

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Shut up."

* * *

Melinda groaned as she waited for her luggage so she could finally meet her biological father and his family. The earlier she could get home to get to a bed she could just crawl into, the better.

After another ten minutes of waiting, Melinda finally got her luggage and got out of the departure hall and stopped abruptly for a second as soon as she spotted the people she was looking for. The Evans family.

One thing Melinda had to admit, though. They were very good-looking people. Ryan had aged gracefully over the years and he looked even more handsome than he did in the pictures Patricia had given her. A kind-looking woman with gorgeous blue eyes and silky blonde hair stood beside him, her hand in his and a small smile graced her facial features. That must be Alana Evans, Ryan's new wife. From what her social worker had told her, the two boys beside Alana and Ryan must have been Alan and Brandon. Melinda couldn't tell them apart yet but one of them was saying something and the other was looking exasperated.

Melinda felt the tears well up in her eyes again and she hastily wiped them away before anyone noticed. That was how her family should have been like. She should have been brought up with brothers and parents who loved each other. But she hadn't and it was Ryan's fault. She was going to make him pay.

Sure that there were no longer tears in her eyes, she stuck her nose up in the air and strutted to her new accommodations.

"Ryan Evans?" she asked softly, once she reached the family, and chose to ignore the fact that her heartbeat had just been raised by a thousand.

"Me- Melinda?"

He was nervous. He was nervous about meeting her. Why would he be nervous? It's not like he wanted to meet her. He was being forced to put up with her until she reached the legal age. He should be angry and annoyed but instead, he looked nervous and dare she say, happy?

"Hello, Mr. Evans," she said coolly as she held out her hand for him to shake it, ignoring the twinge in her heart when Ryan's face fell before he shook her hand. Alana seemed to have noticed the change in her husband and she too, held out her hand.

"Hi, Melinda. You can call him Ryan. I'm Alana, by the way and these are your brothers, Alan and Brandon," she smiled sweetly before gesturing to the two teenagers. Alan and Brandon nodded at her and offered to take her luggage for her.

"It's alright. I can handle it, thank you. So… umm… can we go? I'm a little tired from the long flight and I really want to rest."

"Oh! Right, of course. Well, let's go, then," Ryan smiled at her before putting his arm around Alana and leading his family out of the airport.

"Ryan. Alana. Could you two hold on for a minute?"

"What is it, Mel?"

Mel? They've known her for less than five minutes and they've already got a nickname for her?

"My name is Melinda. And I just wanted to make some things clear. I am only here with you because I have nowhere else to be. If I did have a choice, I wouldn't be here with you. Another thing you should know is that I will never forgive you for leaving my mother and not giving her a damn the moment she was pregnant with me. I've hated you since I was 12 and I always will," she set her jaw firmly, ignoring how Alan's and Brandon's were hanging open. Alana opened her mouth to say something for it was no doubt that she was furious and did not approve of anything Melinda had just said but Ryan squeezed her shoulder gently and he nodded at Melinda.

"We understand. Let's get back home, shall we? Didn't you say you were tired?" Melinda nodded before following Alana and Ryan, not before hearing Brandon and Alan say some things in what they thought were hushed whispers that made her feel like the bitch her mother had taught her to be.

"Charming, isn't she?"

"Charming? Are you freakin' kidding me? She's bitchy!"

"I was being sarcastic, Brandon!"

* * *

"So, is he ever coming out of his room?"

Kelsi sighed as she looked pointedly at her daughter to quit annoying her. McKenzie, though she was a very intelligent girl, proved to be Jason's daughter when she didn't. It had been three days since they've all gotten back from New York and David had cooped himself up in the room, only to come down to eat or go to the bathroom.

"He will when he's ready, Kenzie. Don't pressure him. And anyway, what are you doing home? Didn't you and Paris plan to go to the mall?"

"We did. But then Paris forgot she had made plans with Kevin before we did so we had to cancel," Kenzie shrugged. Kelsi frowned when she saw the troubled look on her daughter's face.

"Kenzie, you okay?"

McKenzie looked up and smiled sadly at her mother.

"I'm fine, Mom."

"No, you're not. Now, sit down and tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's –"

"You do not fool me, McKenzie Valerie Cross. You are my daughter, I love you and I can tell when something is bothering you," Kelsi smiled as McKenzie rolled her eyes good-naturedly. The young girl took a deep breath.

"It's just… She's been spending a lot of time with Kevin and we haven't really had much time together. I mean, yeah, Kevin's her friend too and you know, I get that he understands her but I do too. Why couldn't she have come to me? Or Brad? Why Kevin? And now, she spends more time with him than she does with me. It's not fair, Mom. She's _my_ best friend."

"Oh, Kenz," Kelsi held out her arms and McKenzie wrapped her arms around her mother, trying to stop the urge to cry, not noticing how safe and comforted she felt just by being in her mother's arms. "She'll come around. I mean, you should talk to her about this and tell her how you feel. I'm sure that Paris doesn't know she's hurting you. And about Paris and Kevin… You know who their relationship reminds me of?"

"Who?"

"A lot, actually. For starters, Paris and Kevin are like how you father and Gabriella are. Or Zeke and me. There's just some bond between us. It's not _love_ love, that's for sure, but it definitely is something else. Zeke's like an older brother to me and he's been there for me since high school. Sometimes it's easier to talk to him than your aunts."

"So, you're saying that Paris finds it easier to talk to him than me?" Kenzie asked angrily as she choked back a sob, her head still lying on her mother's chest.

"I don't know, honey. Maybe. But one thing is for sure and that is that you need to talk to her. Your aunts were so suspicious of mine and Zeke's relationship for a while but then we talked and things were good."

"Were Dad and Aunt Sharpay okay with your bond with Uncle Zeke?"

"Well, seeing as your father had the same relationship with your Aunt Gabby and your Aunt Sharpay had with her own brother, they understood. It took them a while but when they were finally sure that there was nothing between us, that Zeke and I only loved each other because we were almost siblings, they were okay with it."

McKenzie sniffled as she hugged her mother tighter, feeling grateful that her mother had always been there for her. And she knew that that certain fact would never change.

* * *

"So, how's David?"

Paris sighed before shaking her head gently at her friend.

"He hasn't come out of his room since we came back. I'm really worried."

"He's just lost his grandparents, Ris. Give the guy a break."

"We're trying to. It's just… I just wished he'd talk to somebody. It doesn't have to be me. As long as it's somebody, I'm okay with it. I mean, I just want him to feel better," she dug her spoon into her ice-cream tub and took out a spoonful of chocolate ice-cream.

"Sometimes, talking hurts, Paris." The sentence was said so quietly, she had almost not heard it. She looked up from her ice-cream to see a stone-faced Kevin. uddenly remembering the fact that he too, had lost his grandparents just a few months before they had met, she began to apologize. Kevin assured her he was okay before going back to eating his ice-cream.

"Kev, what is it like to lose someone you love?" the young girl asked timidly. Kevin gave her a sad smile.

"It's the damndest feeling in the world."

"Well, how did you feel better?"

"I really don't know. I think over time, you just do. But it doesn't mean the hurting stops though. When I was grieving, I found myself wishing my family would comfort me, but none of them did. None of them cared enough to continuously knock on my door to get me out. And I found myself thinking that my grandparents would have done that. And there was no way they could anymore. I just wanted and needed to know I had friends and family who cared about me. To this day, I still don't know. So, the question is, _are you willing to let David be as deprived of love and support as I was_?"

Paris gulped as she chucked away her ice-cream and turned to Kevin to say something. He just shook his head and smiled softly.

"Go."

And with his being okay that she was leaving him to comfort her best friend, Paris started to run across the street to the Cross household only to run back to Kevin.

"Come with me."

"What?"

"C'mon!"

She grabbed his hand, and together, they ran to the Cross household.

* * *

Brad passed the ball to Troy as it was about to be snatched away by Tyler. Behind him, he heard Chad groan as Troy shot yet another basket. The four of them were currently playing a game of two-on-two and so far, it looked like Troy and Brad were winning. It also looked like neither teams were stopping any time soon.

"Dad! Gabriella told me to tell you to come in quick and that the four of you have fifteen minutes to wash up and get ready for dinner or you'll go hungry!"

Andrea's informative shout seemed to have gotten Chad out of his competitive trance and he sprinted away from the court, all thoughts of winning forgotten as he realized how hungry he actually was. Tyler and Troy rolled their eyes and Brad laughed.

"Just a mention of food and he's off. I swear, that old dude lives to eat," Tyler grumbled as he saluted his godfather and friend before dashing up to his own bathroom. Troy looked over at his stepson.

"So… Five more minutes?" he asked uncertainly. Brad grinned.

"Ten."

Troy chuckled. "Alright, let's see what you got."

They continued playing and ended up with a tie.

"You've got to fake right and break left," Troy advised his step-son. Brad smirked.

"You mean like this?" he asked as he did what he was told, effectively ending their game with his win. Troy smiled at him.

"I've taught you well," he said. Brad grinned.

"Thanks, Dad," he said. Troy froze and so did Brad.

"Did you just call me Dad?" Troy asked, his voice shaking.

Brad gulped at Troy's reaction and before either of them knew it, he had stomped past Troy and into the house.

* * *

"Dude, you totally cheated!"

"No, I did not!"

Taylor sighed as her sons continued bickering at the dinner table and Andrea, Gabriella and Troy looked at her and Chad in amusement. Paris and Brad were currently at the Cross household and Faith was with Brandon.

"I wasn't paying attention to the game and you just shot the basket! That's cheating!"

"No, it's not. I can't help it if you check Andrea out every time she comes outside!"

Both Clay and Andrea blushed at this and Clay glared at his brother and kicked him under the table.

"OW!"

"Clay! Do not kick your brother!"

"Oh yeah, defend him. That's what you always do anyway."

"Alright! That's enough! If I hear another word from the two of you, you will go to bed without dinner, you hear me?" Chad snapped at his children. Taylor mouthed her thanks to him and his sons grumpily at their dinner.

"It's his fault!" Clay said quietly as he pointed at his brother. Chad and Taylor exasperatedly put their utensils down and glared at their sons. Troy and Gabriella continued watching as they ate their steak.

"My fault? You're the one with a big ego!" Tyler said. The two soon started bickering. Troy and Gabriella laughed quietly at their friend's horrified faces.

"Well, as fun as this was, me and Troy don't wanna be here when you guys start throwing things around."

"Yeah, so… Nitey night!" Troy called in a sing-song voice as he and Gabriella left the dining room. Clay and Tyler continued arguing for the next ten minutes, giving time for their parents to finish their dinner before they had finally had enough.

"ENOUGH!" Chad and Taylor yelled at the same time.

"The two of you are going to go up to your rooms and you are going to think about this and a way to resolve your conflict. If this does not get settled by tomorrow evening, both of you will be grounded for two weeks," Taylor said calmly. The Danforth boys started to protest but stopped when Chad gave them his best glare and pointed towards the stairs. Clay shoved his brother out of his way and stomped to his room. Tyler rolled his eyes at his brother's childish behaviour.

"Idiot."

* * *

"Troy, you okay?"

"He called me Dad."

Gabriella froze as she slowly turned around to face her husband. Troy had a wide smile on his face and he nodded his head to tell her he was not lying.

"He called you Dad?"

"He called me Dad!"

"He called you Dad! This is amazing!" Gabriella squealed as she hugged her husband tight and demanded every single detail of how it happened.

"I just, you know, feel a little guilty," the sandy-brown haired player sighed as he took his wife's hands. Gabriella looked at him in confusion.

"About what?"

"Well, you know, Brad's father is Preston."

"So?"

"It's just a little weird, Gabby. I mean, I feel like I'm betraying the guy or something!" he exclaimed before sighing. Gabriella smiled softly at him.

"You're not betraying anybody. Troy, if anyone deserves the Dad title, it's you. You're raising them now and I'm sure that Preston would rather it be you than anyone else, okay?" she kissed him on the cheek and went back to grading her papers. Troy smiled. He was a Dad.

* * *

"Really? You mean she actually said that?!" Faith shrieked as she lay down on Brandon's bed while Brandon worked on his History assignment on his study table.

"Yeah. She told Dad that she would never forgive him for leaving her mother alone while she was pregnant with her and that she hated being here. Give me one reason for the rise of Hitler."

"Weakness of the Weimar Government. Wow. Really? You mean she said it straight to Uncle Ryan's face in front of you guys?"

Brandon stopped writing for a while and turned to look at the brunette.

"Yup. She's only fifteen, Faith, and she's such a cold bi –"

"Language."

"Right. Sorry. Anyway, it's not like Dad knew about her. He had no clue she existed until he got that phone call a week ago. It's just not fair that Dad, out of all people, is hurting because of an insensitive teenage girl who had grown up with stories that made Dad look like the villain by an evil bitch."

He started scribbling furiously and Faith sighed as she got off the bed and gently took the pen out of his hand before massaging his shoulders to calm him down. A few minutes later, Brandon sighed.

"Thanks, Faith."

"Anytime."

She smiled beautifully at him and went back to lying on his bed and voluntarily using his laptop. She surfed the net for the next few minutes as he struggled with his essay once again. When she was done, she showed him a website on the internet. It was a website with information on Hitler. It wasn't enough for him to copy from but it was definitely enough for him to get the information he needed. She winked at him and started walking back to her bed when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.

All thoughts of breathing to survive left her as her breath hitched and Brandon intertwined their fingers together. The green eyes he inherited from his father sparkled as he held her closer and she felt her heart racing. Was this it? Was he finally going to kiss her?

Brandon had no idea as to what he was about to do but he found that he just could not control himself. His heart raced as he pulled her closer to him and he saw the unusual red blush on her cheeks which made her even more beautiful to him, if that were possible. He leaned closer to her.

"What did I do to deserve you?" he asked huskily as he brushed her silky hair away from her face. She gave him a nervous smile and shrugged. Brandon smiled at her and leaned closer before he finally closed the gap between their lips. Her small arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders and he pressed her against him as they kissed for the first time, neither of them remembering the fact that they were no longer just friends.

* * *

**A/N: Oooh! Drama! But about time with Faith and Brandon, don't you think?**

* * *


	13. Emotional

"She was flirting with you!" Gabriella grumbled as she took out her earrings. Troy rolled his eyes.

"She was not flirting with me, Gabriella," he said tiredly. Gabriella turned around and looked at him, hands on her hips, her brown eyes wide and scary as she glared at him.

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was not?"

"Was too!"

"Aha!" Gabriella cried.

Troy groaned as he buried his head into his pillow before turning to face his wife.

"She was being friendly. It's called being a good waiter." Honestly, what was she jealous about? It's not like he was going to have an affair. Being the clever man he was kept him from voicing out that particular thought though, knowing it would most likely cause World War 3.

"She was flirting with you and you were flirting back! God, Troy, you just admitted it! Am I not good enough for you? Huh? Do you need to flirt with other younger girls to feel like a man?"

"What the hell?! We both know that I am not the insecure one. Are you PMSing or something?" He glared at her, finally having enough of fighting with her for the night. On the other side of the bed, his emotional wife glared back, angry tears swarming into her eyes. His blue eyes softened and he went towards her, knowing that he had caused those tears and he hated himself almost immediately for doing so.

Upon reaching her, he wrapped his strong arms around her and she leaned towards him, all anger at him melting away as she closed her eyes and sobbed into his chest. Although he had no idea what could possibly be wrong, Troy rubbed her back soothingly and stroked her hair comfortingly, whispering sweet nothings in her ear and kissing her head every once in a while. Gabriella fell asleep a few minutes later and Troy was left to think about what could possibly have made his wife so upset.

* * *

"You guys kissed?!"

"Shut up, Andy!"

Two days after Brandon and Faith had shared their first kiss, Faith had decided that she needed to tell someone. Naturally, the people she told were none other than her step sister and her best girl friends. Andrea laughed happily as she squealed and dashed to hug her stepsister. Faith grinned as she hugged her back, still feeling a little light headed from the events that day but nonetheless feeling like the happiest girl in the world.

"So, does this means that you guys are dating?"

Faith frowned at Mikayla's question. Truth to be told, she had absolutely no idea where the kiss left them. Were they going to talk about it? Would Brandon ask her out? Would he even acknowledge the kiss?

"To be honest, I have no idea."

"What?"

"I mean, after the kiss, we never really got to talk because Melinda barged in," the brunette shrugged as if it were no big deal when everyone else in the room knew better.

Savannah frowned at the mention of Melinda. "You know, we haven't really met Melinda yet."

"She was nice to me. If I hadn't heard about what she had said to Ryan from Brandon, I would have totally liked her."

* * *

Ryan stood outside his daughter's room, unsure of what to do. On the other end of the hallway, Brandon and Alan peeked out of their room to spy on their father, knowing that they were obvious but Ryan's nervousness seemed to have made him oblivious of his sons' presence.

Ryan took a deep breath to calm himself down before knocking on Melinda's room door. The young girl opened the door and widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing her father. Ryan smiled at her softly.

"Hey, can I come in?"

Melinda shrugged. "It's your house."

Ryan frowned at her reply before shrugging it off. "There's a barbeque tonight at my friends' house. We're all going. Do you want to come?"

Melinda squirmed uneasily under her father's hopeful face. "I'm not very sociable."

Ryan laughed good-naturedly. "Trust me. You don't have to be sociable to be friends with the Boltons or Danforths or the Cross family. Plus, you haven't met your cousins yet."

"I have cousins?"

Ryan frowned again. Patricia had not told Melinda about his family but she had instead fed the young girl lies about Ryan? "Yeah, you do. I have a twin sister wh –"

"Sharpay?"

"Yes. You know her?"

"Mom told me she was a bitch who never approved of you and her being together and tried to break you up. She obviously succeeded," Melinda shrugged. In an instance, Ryan's calm face turned into one of pure anger. Melinda flinched and unknowingly took a step back.

Ryan stepped closer to her and said in a soft yet firm voice, "You can talk about me all you want, Melinda. You can bitch about me and yell at me and tell me that I'm a bastard for leaving your mother and you but _never _call my sister or anyone I love a bitch. Do you understand me?"

Melinda nodded, her jaw set as if she was about to defy him. Ryan sighed. "I'm sorry, Melinda, but I just cannot tolerate anyone insulting the important people in my life. I hope you understand?"

He was apologizing to her. He was apologizing to her for talking roughly to her when she had been rude to her in the first place. Her mother had never bothered so why was he? Because unlike Patricia, Ryan knew love and respect. And the fact that he knew these things and the way he behaved suddenly brought doubts to the stories her mother had told her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. Ryan nodded, smiling softly as he made to walk out of her room. "Ryan?"

Ryan turned around, his expression hopeful once again and Melinda could not help but say, "I'll go."

* * *

"Paris, go away!"

"I am not going away until you come out and promise to go for the barbeque!"

"I don't feel like going out, Paris! In case you've forgotten, I am in no mood to have fun."

"C'mon David!"

"NO!"

"Why not?" the young brunette whined. David opened the door, his face red with fury and Paris found herself taking a step backwards.

"Why not? I'll tell you why not! MY GRANDPARENTS JUST DIED! HAVING FUN IS NOT ON MY LIST OF THINGS TO DO RIGHT NOW! SO JUST FUCKIN' BACK OFF, PARIS! I DON'T NEED YOU!"

"Yes, you do! Look, I'm not asking you to have fun. I'm asking you to go to the barbeque so that you'd at least get out of this damn room! Your grandparents would have hated the way you're acting now and guess what? So do I and everyone else! The only reason we're not giving up on you is because we love you too damn much to watch you rot in grief! Get THAT through your thick skull, David Camden!"

"If you loved me too damn much, you wouldn't be hanging out with that Kevin guy when you should be with me!"

"Fuck you, David!"

"I'm sure you want to."

"Oh, get over yourself! You pushed me and everyone else away and you're blaming us for spending our time away from you? We thought we were giving you the space you needed! Well, guess what?"

"What?"

"Me, Brad and Kenzie miss you too much! We're not leaving you alone! Not anymore! So, if you stay here the whole time the barbeque is happening, so will we! And you will live in guilt for making us miss the barbeque!"

David slammed the door in her face. Paris sat cross-legged in front of his room.

"STILL HERE!"

"STAY AS LONG AS YOU LIKE! I AIN'T GOING ANYWHERE YOU BITCH!"

"ASSHOLE!"

"BIMBO!"

"JERK!"

"WHATEVER!"

"WHATEVER YOURSELF!"

Paris huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Paris?" Kelsi's voice came behind her as her footsteps grew louder.

Paris smiled sweetly at her bewildered godmother who had evidently heard everything. "Hey, Aunt Kelsi! Do you mind if I use the phone and a few blankets?"

* * *

"TAYLOR!"

"Gabs, what's wrong?"

"Sharpay, what are you doing here?"

"Taylor and I have some East High admin work to do."

"Oh, okay."

"Gabs, why were you shouting at the top of your lungs?"

"OH YEAH! I'M LATE!"

"Late for what?"

"LATE, TAYLOR, LATE! I AM LATE!"

"Again, I ask. What are you – OH MY GOD!"

"What are the two of you screaming about?"

"CHAD! GABRIELLA'S LATE!"

"Late for what?"

"LATE CHAD! LATE!"

"Wait a minute. That's the exact same thing you said when – HOLY COW! HOW LATE?!"

"TWO MONTHS!"

"Okay, which library book is late?"

"SHARPAY! CHAD GOT IT BEFORE YOU! C'MON! THINK! GABRIELLA'S LATE! LATE, SHARPAY! LATE!"

"I need sane friends. Late for what?"

"SHARPAY! I. AM. LATE!"

"If I hear that word one more time, I am going to – NO WAY! YOU'RE _LATE_?!"

"I'M LATE!"

* * *

**A/N: Please review! Why was Gabriella so emotional? Is Melinda changing her mind about Ryan? What do you think Gabriella is late for? Will Faith and Brandon finally get together?**

**P.S. I'm sorry for not being able to update sooner. From now on, I have vowed not make promises I can't keep. My sincerest apologies to HoldingontohopE... I've just been very busy lately and I have to say that I won't be updating frequently in the upcoming months either. I will be taking my 'O' level examinations next year and I really want to do well. So, I hope you lovely readers would understand me not updating so frequently. Thanks. :)**

**Please don't forget to review!**


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